AN: I apologise for the delay in this update – I had a bit of a down turn in my health and it took a while to rally myself back to the task of writing :) I once again owe a massive thanks and a huge virtual chocolate cake to HeartofFyrwinde for being awesome and essentially handing me the plot to this chapter on a silver platter when I hit a massive writer's block! :D and also for bouncing ideas around with me for the wider story plot in general :) If you have the time go check out their stories too – search the penname or find links in my profile.
And without further adieu, I present the next chapter! (finally ;) )
Conflict in James Town
Tomasa strode across the campsite with a confidence he didn't feel inside. The men around him were thick and burly, with bugling muscles and searching looks – it reminded him of Mel's father, and it made him shudder. He tried to block out the thoughts in his head, but Kyo's voice rose unbidden in his mind, saying silly things like, "Too bad their brains are in their biceps!" before making a face and pretending to vomit onto his shoes. It almost brought a smile to Tomasa's lips, but not quite – it was still painful to think…
He left the encampment, shaking his head violently, and made his way through the trees, forcing himself back to the present and focusing on the discussion he had just had. He entered a clearing a few minutes walk away from the British camp and waited for Pete to crawl out of the shadows. Tomasa didn't like Pete very much, mainly because he was always talking down to him and being a general knob.
"So? How'd it go?"
"Ratcliff's in. I still don't see why we should be siding with the git." He didn't like any of the guys Pete had been approaching for Maleficent, and not many had been taking the bait they dangled before them – one such individual who had dealt with Pete before had point blank refused to listen to anything they had to say. The soldiers here had chased Pete off because of his cat like features, screaming about demons and savages, so Tomasa had had to go in and do the negotiations himself. He didn't have the gift of the gab, and he didn't have that easy, natural way of dealing with people like Kyo did, so it had been quite tense – but Ratcliff had agreed. Tomasa wondered what Mel would have made of the man, probably would have demanded to know what the hell he was playing at, messing around with the pompous fat git…
"That's nothin' for you to worry about now." Pete said bracingly. "You've done your bit, now it's my turn."
"So what do I do now?"
"Go back to HQ. You're still not strong enough to command the heartless."
Tomasa wasn't in a mood to argue, so he stood by and waited for a portal to be opened for him before he walked listlessly through it. Pete could play whatever game he wanted, but Tomasa wasn't going to let himself become a pawn. Maleficent hadn't stated clearly that he was to do the 'dirty work' as far as the heartless were concerned. He was just…floating, for now. But sooner or later he was going to have to do something, and his heart rebelled against his mind and prayed Mel and Kyo weren't in his way when he had to start moving. Even though Maleficent promised they wouldn't be hurt…
No. He would make sure if that happened he would be strong enough to stop it.
XOXOX
Leo shrieked and tried to block the way down the stairs, eyes wide and horrified as Mel tried to leave. Aqua sighed and closed her eyes, fingers massaging her temple. He had become oddly temperamental of late; he fell asleep early at night and woke up very late, and he had odd mood swings that made him deliriously happy like his younger self, and then a brooding, menacing presence five seconds later. He couldn't make up his own mind how he felt, and had taken to snapping at people's hands and face until he got bopped on the nose in retaliation, which seemed to warn him off trying to actually bite them. She almost wished he was a hatchling again so she could shove him in the little canvas bag, or pick him up in her arms and still his movements before he hurt himself. Now of course, he was too big to do much damage to himself – only to the others and the objects around him.
They were going on a mission today – to another world. Ven and Sora would be getting some extra training in at the same time as doing recon for Yen Sid, and Aqua would be helping Terra with some magic practise. Mel was coming along for two reasons: first, she really, really wanted to go; and second, to make it less conspicuous what Riku and Kairi were going to be up to in the mean time. The excuse was so that the castle was being watched, and of course Leo too (if he didn't flatten it first). The three boys were so wrapped up in their preparations that they gave it little to no thought at all, which made things easier.
Only Leo was now barring their way…
He was alarmed that Mel was leaving this world without him. He may have grown and matured a lot in the nearly half a year he had been alive, but he still had expectations that had until now always been met – Mel never left him alone in this world, only with Master Ansem in Radiant Garden and then only for a short time. He wasn't taking it well, and while she tried to dodge around him and get to the courtyard below, they were wasting time.
"Leo, I'll be back at the end of the day. I promise," she tried to stroke his nose soothingly, but he keened loudly at her, eyes closed and trying to look as pathetic as possible in the hopes he would sway her heart. He sat down in a heap and sulked when her heart failed to swoon in response. "It's all right, look! Riku and Kairi are here, you won't be alone. I'm helping the guys get ready for their exam. It's really important."
"We'll bring her back in one piece, promise!" Sora insisted brightly.
Leo fixed him with a steely gaze and snorted loudly. In the end, he relented long enough for Mel and Terra to squeeze past, and they all mounted up and left before he could change his mind. Riku was going to pick up Cid and Lea with the gummi ship, so they could help with the work that needed doing, and Sora naively didn't question this choice. In the tense moment when Aqua thought they were busted, Sora said happily, "Is using the gliders instead of the ship another part of the training?" And Riku had leapt on the excuse Sora had so readily presented for him, steering conversation away from dangerous waters that would expose them all.
In the world they landed in, they found themselves in a thick forest of tall trees, and Mel wandered off instantly to take a look around. Aqua set about pairing them up to do exercises and keep an eye out for the heartless. Sora and Ven bounced off happily together to scout out the terrain, and Aqua decided to let Terra have a wander too before she started drilling him with magic exercises.
It was a beautiful landscape; the forest was peaceful, and a wide river ran past where they were, before it joined the sea not far away. Aqua could hear the gulls and smell the salt in the air – a pleasant and familiar tang. She followed the course of the river, listening to Mel tell Terra about the medicine of the salmon and the qualities associated with the animal, the river teeming with the fish. She rounded a corner, waving at them and only walking further when they acknowledged her, so they knew where she was going. Squirrels chattered in the trees, and small animals scampered across the leaf litter – it was so tranquil she almost decided to call off the training for the day so they could relax in the light of this world. Almost… But not quite. She owed it to Terra and Ven, and to Sora too, to help them as best she could.
A thought occurred to her as she carefully jumped over a fallen log, checking for snakes and spiders (Mel had drummed it into their heads after Ven got a particularly nasty bite that put him out of commission for a week, to always, always check before you leaped). After the exam, after they became Masters in their own right, if they wanted they could leave her and travel on their own. She pulled a face at the thought; she didn't think either of them would leave, and Sora wasn't about to up and leave Riku and Kairi either. Ven would want to travel and see the worlds, but he'd be too drawn to home to want to leave permanently, not for a few years anyway. Terra…she liked to think he'd stay, but he had a burning curiosity for the unknown too. She loved them both dearly, and the realisation that they could fly the nest and she wouldn't have a say in it at all…
A loud crack from behind her silenced her thoughts, and all sound in the forest. She drew her keyblade, taking up a ready position and waiting for whatever was out there to show itself.
The faint traces in the air as she slowly edged towards the direction of the noise suggested Darkness.
The Heartless.
XOXOX
"Amazing," Terra said, mostly to himself.
"Mhmm." Mel nodded, watching the water carefully as she jumped from stone to stone across the river. "That's why it's so important to give back what you take." She had been explaining the link between salmon runs and the nutrition of the forests – the belief of some people that the carcases of salmon had to be thrown back to the river so the spirits of the adults could guide the young back to the sea when they hatched. What happened on the concrete level was the decomposition of the bodies, and the nitrogen that nourished and fuelled the growth of plant life around the rivers. Even with his ever-increasing knowledge of the so-called 'paranormal', Terra had been sceptical until Mel pointed this little scientific nugget.
"Don't you ever think there are too many links?" he asked, looking down and treading carefully in her wake, fish leaping and diving around his feet. "Like everything is suspended in a tight web of energy – not much lee way,"
"Not really," Mel had to stop and spread her arms to maintain balance before setting off again after a small nudge from Terra. "It doesn't work that way. Links are only solidly binding if you let them."
"I don't really get your magic," he admitted. Terra had been wondering if he could learn some for himself, but he hadn't had much luck trying to figure it out on his own, and he was too busy getting worked up about the exam to give much thought to asking for lessons just yet.
"I'm not sure I get it either." She climbed onto a large boulder in the middle of the river and stood there on the dry rock, shielding her eyes against the glare of the sun. "It's not really something you consciously learn, as such…I just picked it up bit by bit, and what one person told me tied in with what another said. So I took the pieces that made the most sense and then I figured I had what I needed."
"Is it even magic?" Terra tried to follow, and slipped up in the water as a particularly huge fish crashed into his leg as he tried to balance on it. He felt chagrined when Mel waded over to help him up, but laughed when she raised her eyebrows.
"I don't know. It's certainly energetics. Mostly, it's all in your head." She tapped her forehead."
Terra frowned. "That's what I don't really get…"
"Okay, look at it this way – if you think or feel something, or for something, strongly enough – it will happen. Or at the very least providence lends you the tools you need. Like this," she waded out into the currents of the water and crouched down, her hand under the water and waited patiently. "I don't really care what happens at the moment, my power of intent is focused else where – it doesn't matter if I catch anything or not." She tried several times to catch an unsuspecting fish, taking great care physically with her movements and her timing, but she couldn't catch a single one, and ended up falling over with a loud splash, making Terra laugh.
"So what's your point?" he said teasingly as she got up for the third time.
"Now," she said pointing at him with a gleam in her eye, "I'm treating it like its life or death. Everyone's dead, I'm going to starve and die as well if I don't get something to eat. My power of intent is: I am going to catch a fish." And she crouched down again in the same place, but this time there was something in her eyes that was completely different – her movements and timing were still the same, only this time after about thirty seconds she lunged and lifted a large salmon into the air, wriggling in protest from being removed from its element. "See fish?" she asked, pointing at it. "There you go," she gently lowered it into the river, and it darted off inland with the others. Mel tried again, and not ten seconds later had caught an even bigger one. After she did this a further three times she placed the fish back into the water and stood up, completely soaked through.
"Impressive," Terra said, wanting to tease her but not finding a witty enough remark. "How did you do that?"
"Focused power of intent," she said, tapping her temple. "I told myself I was going to catch a fish, and I did. Before I wasn't fussed and I wasn't focusing my intentions to it. It's also the law of attraction – positivity attracts positivity; negativity attracts negativity. You seek to catch the salmon for no other reason than to kill them and take no nourishment, you're asking for…say a bear or something to do the same to you. That's a bit of an extreme example… But if you're after the food to keep yourself alive, and to help others, whatever you need will be provided for you, providing that you take just what you need, and give back what you can when you can."
Terra grinned at her. "How about I just keep you as my conscience?" It should have been annoying the way everything she said made sense to him, but he couldn't bring himself to taunt her over it. Ven was easy to wind up, and he was just as happy to dish it out in return – Aqua was equally entertaining to rile up, even if he was in love with her; it was a game to see who could annoy who the fastest, a part of their childhood and something they had never grown out of, a part of their relationship that would remain the same forever.
And then there was Mel. Small, slight, and so incredibly strong – he just couldn't abuse her the same way he abused Ven or the others.
"I don't really think you need me for that." She said, arms spread wide in a gesture that reminded him of Kyo; her feet planted firmly on the pebble strewn river bed, Mel dipped forward in a sort of bow, shifting her weight onto the sides of her feet instead before raising her head. "Flattering as your faith in me is,"
They both laughed – they were being absurd. They trudged back across the river to the place where they had parted from Aqua, and got ready to go look for her, when Mel stilled. Terra turned to ask her what was wrong, but she stiffened right before she flung herself to the ground yelling, "Duck!"
In the time it took for Terra to blink and comply, he heard an ominous whiz and thock above his head, and when he looked up he saw an arrow quivering in the tree beside him, exactly where his throat had been moments before. He summoned his keyblade and rolled out of the way as a spear landed where his knee had been. Mel raised a palling around them so they could gather their wits in relative safety, and not a moment to soon as two more arrows glanced off the shield the moment it was erected.
Terra was about to suggest fighting back at their unseen attackers, when something came crashing through the trees and nearly knocked them over before chasing after the source of the arrows. A strangled cry was heard just as the creature threw its head back and flung a man in animal skins from his perch in a tree on the other side of the river.
"Look!" Mel called, waving at the creature as it paused in its rampage to roar at them angrily. It looked like a black coloured bear, but misshapen and twisted with horrible, hollow yellow eyes and vivid streaks of red and yellow across its bulky body like a parody of a poisonous insect – and it had a heartless symbol blazing from between its shoulder blades.
"That's our cue!" Terra said, hefting his blade up and charging towards the heartless through the shield.
It was exceptionally difficult, possibly because it was just the two of them, and possibly because Mel took a back seat in favour of standing over the wounded man to protect him from further injury. There were three other hunters of the same ilk as he, but they were no match for the heartless. It tore the riverbed up, flattened a few trees, and at one point got its teeth into Terra's arm, only just missing breaking the skin because of the leather and metal protecting him, and also because he was well practised at evading Leo and his antics. He snarled as it roared at him, trying to take him down by brute force. Something Kyo had said to him flashed across Terra's mind about the heartless being attracted to a heavily guarded heart, and it gave him an idea. Rather than press back and fight strength with strength, he gave way and it pushed him down into the water, below the surface with a yelp of surprise – completely unprepared for the change of behaviour in its prey. Reaching up blindly Terra struck out at the place where the heart should have been.
The heartless wasn't defeated, but it was immobilised for a moment, and a sudden surge in the currents carried it downstream towards the sea. It got to its feet, shaking its massive grizzly head, but Mel flung an orb of harsh white light at it, and the heartless growled before it careened off towards the open sea, away from the horrible bright light and the pounding of keyblades.
Terra staggered over to where Mel sat in the water, gently helping the man to sit up. He was falling in and out of consciousness, and she was carefully inspecting the wound on his chest while holding his head clear of the river. Terra picked him up and moved him to the bank where Mel wasted no time in setting her store of potions and medical kit on the ground. She cleaned the gaping wound out with a deft flick of her wrist and a pad of cotton soaked with water, before she dabbed some iodine rich solution into it. The man hissed and came too long enough to give her a filthy look, but she put a hand over his eyes and murmured something soft and indistinct, which made him still, more peacefully this time. He had dark, copper coloured skin and long thick black hair that had been braided in places with seashells and feathers. Terra looked up sharply when he heard the water splashing, and came face to face with a glowering man holding up a large and lethal looking spear, similar in appearance to the man on the ground but with a slightly flatter nose and a more angular chin. Terra held his arms up, keyblade in hand, and made no threatening gestures – he figured there was no need to fight to locals if they could help it. That was the first rule in the code of conduct for cross-world travellers.
Mel must have seen or at least heard them coming, but she doggedly mopped up the over flowing antiseptic solution and fitted a tight woven bandage over the wound to staunch the bleeding before tying it tightly to hold it in place. She gathered her things up, stuff them into her pockets and her satchel before she got to her feet and backed away from the man, arms raised in a similar gesture of surrender. One of the hunters dropped his bow and knife to check on his comrade, and gave Mel a curious look that was devoid of aggression of suspicion.
"You," the man with the spear trained on Terra's throat said harshly. "Come with us. Now."
Terra chanced a glance at Mel, who shook her head and mouthed, "Not much of a choice." He didn't want to surrender, but it seemed Mel was right – not a lot of choice in the matter.
They let the hunters remove their things, search through their bags and confiscate any weapons before handing the bags back, Mel's being treated with great respect. Terra owned a small clasp knife, and Mel had a pocket army knife as well as a set of darts for some bizarre reason that sometimes ended up in her bag when they went patrolling for no adequately explained reason – they were all removed and put into another bag carried by the wounded man, who had to be supported by one of his friends as they set off at a slow pace through the trees on the other side of the river.
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Terra said dully, trudging through the mud behind the leading hunter, with the angry looking one behind them brandishing a spear at their backs.
"At least no one got killed." Mel said softly.
"Not yet." He looked up at the brilliantly blue sky and groaned. "Aqua's going to when she finds out…"
XOXOX
Aqua burst through the bushes, trying to get a lock on the heartless that flitted away almost as soon as she saw them. She had been attacked, and then went after them on a wild goose chase that seemed to have no end. It wasn't until she had heard a child screaming nearby that she had moved with any real sense of purpose – that sound was enough to motivate her into action.
When she reached the clearer ground by the riverside, she saw a little girl running away from the heartless that pulled and clawed at her legs, destroying a woven basket that lay on the ground in a pile of freshly picked berries. These heartless were different to the ones she had encountered before – they looked a bit like wolverines, and a few swooping down from above looked like hawks, all black with red and yellow shapes of geometric design adorning their limbs. The shrieks and cries they made were unnerving.
The girl ran into the water, which deterred a few of the smaller heartless running on all fours, but it didn't stop the larger, bear shaped one that was as high as Aqua's waist, or the feathered flyers that swooped over head. Aqua stampeded through the mud and into the water, hacking and slashing inelegantly as she flew past, making the heartless scream and dive out of her way lest they get caught by the keyblade. The smaller ones dissipated, the pink glow of a heart spiralling upwards to the sky as she cut their ranks asunder; the larger one thought twice about it before breaking off its chase to turn on Aqua instead. She hit it three times in rapid succession before hurling a blizzard attack that stunned it, right before she thrust her keyblade straight through its neck. The heartless keened loudly as it disappeared into a bubbling mass of shadows – and then nothing.
Aqua panted heavily, lifting her arm and looking up to see where the girl had gone. She was clinging to a large boulder in the middle of the river, where the water was too deep for her to stand easily and the currents were too strong. The girl was wearing a plain, roughly sewn dress of animal skins, and she had a few wooden beads braided into her hair ending with soft grey feathers that were limp and wet. She stared at Aqua with wide, terrified eyes of deepest brown, set in a face of dark, copper skin.
Trying to look less threatening, Aqua lowered her weapon and held out a hand to her. "It's all right, the monsters have gone now." She said gently, very aware of the danger the girl was in standing that deep in the fast moving water, and very unhappy with the threat of the heartless hanging over them. "It's okay, let's get you back to the bank,"
The girl baulked, and took a step back, then shuffled forward again as the water threatened to sweep her away beyond the protection of the boulder.
Aqua was about to try again when she heard a terrible roar and looked upstream towards the source. A huge, bear like animal – much larger than the heartless she had just dispatched – came barrelling down the river at a great loping pace, jaws hanging wide open in a grimace of pain and anger. It didn't notice the two people, and Aqua was glad as she threw herself out of the way, until she heard the child screaming and looked up to find her being washed away by the current. She struck out after her, letting the water carry her forward, but the heartless seemed to have finally noticed the girl and started towards her. She screamed as the huge paw came down beside her, and water crashing over her head and sweeping her under.
"No!" Aqua cried desperately, kicking against the current to angle herself so she would be swept right up against the heartless and not over shoot it and miss them. The bottom of the river was too deep for her feet to reach by now, and she had to kick against the deceptive currents below the surface that threatened to drag her under.
In the end, she only succeeded in angering the heartless, but it left them well alone after it got caught in the currents as well, and decided it didn't want to put up a fight and try to swim against the river as well. It struck out towards the widening mouth of the river that flowed straight into the sea, giving her one last baleful look over its shoulder. With the heartless gone Aqua reached for the girl as she was swept past, barely managing to keep her head above the water. She slid below the surface and Aqua dived after her, refusing to give up. The girl spluttered and coughed when they emerged, clinging to Aqua instinctively and just about holding her head high enough to avoid the waves that were starting to buffet them.
After she let the current carry them a little further and regained some of her strength somewhat, Aqua swam backwards towards the shoreline, staying on her back to make it easier to kick against the flow of water and to keep her chin above the surface. Eventually, after what felt like forever, they were picked up by a wave and dumped on the muddy beach, and Aqua collapsed in a heap, her lungs and legs burning from the effort of fighting first the river, and then the sea. The girl poked her tentatively to see if the woman was awake, and Aqua reluctantly rallied herself to her knees.
"Are you all right?" she panted, sagging against the muddy sand.
The girl nodded.
"Right, let's get back on dry land," she said, getting to her feet and taking the girl's hand. Together they walked up the beach and into the trees; on the horizon was a tendril of smoke, further along the coast, but the girl refused to step in that direction no matter how Aqua coaxed her. "Where do you live?"
"In the village." She pointed deeper into the trees, towards the northwest as opposed to the more easterly where the smoke could be seen.
"Are your family there?"
She nodded, wide-eyed and fearful, and not a bit in awe.
Aqua smiled tiredly; her hair had often been an object of fascination. Terra had been amazed when they first met, to think one's hair could be as blue as their eyes. "I'll take you there, in case there are more heartless around." She held out a hand, and the girl stared at it for a moment before looking up to meet her gaze.
"You mean those demons?"
"Yes. They are called the heartless. They won't hurt you if I'm with you."
The girl raised a hand, and hesitantly took the one proffered to her.
"My name is Aqua. What's yours?"
"Nute."
"Nice to meet you, Nute." She smiled, and the girl smiled shyly back.
The going was tough, and Nute had a bad limp that grew worse very quickly. Aqua cleaned the wound and took a large clean leaf from a plant she recognised and tied it to the girl's leg with a length of sinew Nute had on her. It didn't do much for the pain, which Aqua gave her a potion for, but it would staunch the bleeding and keep it free of dirt until they could get her to a healer; Aqua wanted to save as much manna as possible in case they were attacked again, and so forwent a curing spell in favour of a real emergency. Nute couldn't have been much older than seven, and she tired very quickly, so Aqua reached down despite her own exhaustion and hefted the girl onto her hip before setting off again. Nute squirmed at first from the close contact with the strange woman, but she soon settled down and eventually snuggled up to her embrace.
It made Aqua smile – Ven used to curl up with her like this when he was younger; she missed those times, the close and easy intimacy of her surrogate brother. He had insisted when he turned thirteen he was too old for that sort of thing, wounding her heart deeply until he found her one evening after Terra had disappeared early, and instantly cuddled up with her, promising to kill her if she mentioned it to him.
Nute was dozing when and arrow landed in front of Aqua, trembling from the force of its flight just where she had been about to place her foot. She whipped around towards the direction the feathered end was pointing, and a man cam running at her out of the trees, bearing a huge bone club.
"Wait!" Aqua cried, backing up and trying to show that her hands were free of weapons. "There's a child!"
Nute had jerked awake and she screamed again, cowering into Aqua's side, and she moved her body instinctively to protect her. The man skidded to a halt, kicking up a spray of mud and staring first in amazement, and then in a mixture of fear and gladness as he took in the child in Aqua's arms. Another man came running up behind him, but he flung an arm out to stop him. The new comer was taller, with a thicker torso rippling with muscles and two large ochre coloured bear paw prints across his breastbone. He wanted to lash out at Aqua, but the first man physically put himself in between them, saying something that she didn't quite catch.
Then when both men had calmed down, he turned to them with his arms outstretched and said, "Nute!"
The girl wriggled around to get a better look, and screamed, "Pacco!" before scrambling down from Aqua's arms and running to him. He lifted her off the ground and hugged her, murmuring soothingly while she hugged him back fiercely.
Aqua smiled at the touching scene, but she was jolted back to reality as the man with the paw marks rounded on her. She stepped back, raising her hands in surrender, and tried to affect a calm expression as her mind raced.
"Stop! Kocoum," Nute shouted. "She saved me from the demons!"
The man glowered at Aqua, appraising her arrogantly. "You're one of the pale faces. What are you doing here?" he demanded.
Aqua blinked. "Please, I'm here because of the heartless – those demons that attacked Nute. I know how to defeat them,"
"Kocoum," the other man said, setting Nute down on the ground and she hugged him round the middle contentedly. "Let us take her back to the village. Let the Chief decide."
"These strangers are the reason to demons have come!" he spat, pointing his spear savagely at Aqua. "They destroy our land, wound our people-!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Aqua said quickly. "I only just arrived here today. And there were four others with me. We came here because of the heartless."
"Kocoum," Pacco said quietly, and they started arguing in fierce whispers while Nute ambled back over to Aqua, holding her arms up to her. Instinctively Aqua leaned down to pick her up, and she snuggled up against her side. "We must," Pacco was saying just as a horrible, ear splitting roar echoed across the forest.
Aqua summoned her keyblade, and the two men recoiled first with shock, and then Kocoum snarled, aiming at her with his spear, only stopping when Pacco forcibly pushed him aside and reminded him angrily that Nute was in the woman's arms.
"Those demons!" Kocoum hissed.
"It's a heartless," Aqua said urgently. "It's not safe to stay here,"
Pacco looked between them anxiously, and Kocoum gave in. "Fine. You!" he snapped at Aqua. "You will come with us." He took her roughly by the arm and dragged her between the trees, with Pacco on her other side stroking Nute's hair.
They ran through the forest like a parody of a three-legged race, and only slowed when they came to the edge of a great clearing at the edge of another huge river. There were houses here, made from wood and daubed clay, and many people dark of hair and skin like Pacco and Nute wearing animal skins and brandishing weapons as they approached. Aqua caused quite a stir with her painfully pale skin in comparison, and her bright blue hair – several people ran away from the proceedings, and several others made the same sign with their hands, as if to ward off evil.
An aging man and woman came hurrying to the forefront of the crowd, calling for Nute, and Aqua set her down again so she could run to them, where she was smothered in hugs and kisses, and berated for giving them such a fright.
"On!" Kocoum said angrily, pushing Aqua along.
Finally she was brought to a large circular area around a huge bonfire, and two men were stood beside it looking sombre and grave. Kocoum pushed her into the circle as people began to gather, and then kicked her in the back of her legs so she fell forward onto her knees. Aqua's dignity dictated that she didn't rise to such baiting and lash out like he royally deserved, but in her pride she gave the man the filthiest scowl she could manage, and he snarled in response; for a moment she feared he would strike at her, but the taller of the two men by the fire raised a hand, and he backed off instantly.
This man had to be the Chief, the leader of these people – he had the same authoritative glow that she remembered of Master Eraqus. He had strong facial features, and though he was not as ornately dressed as some of the others crowding around them, the eagle feathers of his headdress and the austere arrangement of his clothes, including a large fur covered dance shawl, impressed upon Aqua the nature of his position within the village. He was a leader through and through.
"Who are you?" he asked in slow and measured tones.
"My name is Master Aqua," she said more confidently than she felt. "I came here because I was following the heartless."
"Heartless?" he asked, regarding her through narrowed eyes. "You speak of the demons the pale faces brought with them. And you tell me you were following them? From where did you come?"
This was like playing with fire – she couldn't say from another world. "Very far from here, further than the pale faces."
Kocoum snorted derisively, but was silenced with a look from the Chief.
"You call yourself a Master." He said to Aqua, looking down on her from his vantage point. "If your people are not the pale faces destroying the forest, then who are they?"
"I came here with four others, we were tracking the heartless together. We have weapons that are the only thing that can destroy them, and we were going to search for them. But we got split up,"
"Others?" the man looked troubled for a fraction of a moment. "We found two more people dressed like you by the Great River. They had most peculiar weapons…"
"Please, take me to them!" she said, getting to her feet despite the menacing hand Kocoum laid on her shoulder.
The Chief appraised her for a moment before demanding that Kocoum get the other prisoners. The man stalked off, back ramrod straight and returned a few minutes later with Mel and Terra, both splattered with mud and soaking wet. Terra's lip was split, and Mel was nursing a bruise on her forehead, but they both brightened the moment they saw her. Kocoum tried to prevent it, but Mel broke free from the man stood beside her and rushed to Aqua, arms held out.
"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously, reaching up and wiping the back of her hand against Aqua's forehead. When she lowered it into Aqua's field of vision she saw it was covered in blood.
"Huh?" Aqua raised her own hand and wiped it down the side of her face. There was a cut just at the edge of her hairline, and as with all scalp wounds, it was bleeding profusely. "Oh,"
Terra placed his hand against the side of her face and she felt the tug and flow of healing magic, and the bleeding stopped. "What happened to you?" he asked anxiously.
"Silence!" Kocoum shouted at them, but he again backed down when his chief gestured.
"I want to know why you are here, and why my people are in danger." He said in a commanding tone that humbled Aqua.
"We told you!" Terra snapped, his temper apparently already frayed to its limit. "We're here to fight those demons!" He looked to Aqua for support, and she laid a hand on his shoulder, and he visibly relaxed – something the Chief noted with his unswerving gaze.
"If we have caused any trouble for you and your people, I am really sorry – we didn't mean to. I don't know about the people you call the pale faces, but I can assure you we have nothing to do with them. The creatures you call demons are actually the heartless. They come from the darkness in people's hearts, and they manifest as these monsters. Recently they had been appearing in many places in huge numbers. That's why we came here," Aqua felt far calmer knowing she had Terra and Mel standing either side of her as she addressed the Chief. "Have you seen two others, like us? One has light hair," she pointed at Mel, "and the other has dark, like these two." She pointed at Terra. "Both young men. About the same height?"
The Chief shook his head. "I have seen no others. The pale faces wear armour different to yours, I would know if I had seen your people."
Aqua sagged and tried not to let the despair that was growing in her heart overtake her. Ven, Sora…what was she going to do? She had to find them, and fast.
"If you are not of the pale faces, than who exactly are you?"
The man who had been staying behind by the fire suddenly came forth and the chief became silent, watching him intently. He was old, with a stooped back and grey-white hair, and a powerful presence. The man looked first from Aqua, then to Terra and finally to Mel. He stood squarely in front of her, and she lowered her gaze respectfully. He grabbed her by the chin somewhat roughly, which made her start, but Mel kept her cool and stared unflinchingly back at the dark eyes that bored into her. Terra made a move to get in the old man's way but Aqua grabbed his arm to steady him before he could take so much as a step. Every move they made, every breath they took was being closely watched by the Chief – she didn't want to give Kocoum any excuse to accuse them of being a threat.
Finally the old man let her go and took a step back from them, looking to his Chief for permission to speak. He nodded, and the man said, "These people have white skin, but they are not of the ilk of the pale faced people that came to rip the land to pieces. I want to see your weapons." He said directly to Aqua.
Terra and Mel looked to her for guidance, and Aqua raised her hand, summoning her blade before the others followed suit. She held it out, hilt first to the old man, and he took it from her, carefully examining it before he handed it back to her quickly.
"These weapons are strange, stranger than the fire and smoke of the pale faces, but I do not sense any harm." He spoke to the people around them, who were staring with fear and awe at the blades in their hands.
"How can we be sure?" Kocoum demanded, trying to intimidate Terra by getting right up in his face. Terra snarled back, but moved his right arm behind his back where the man couldn't get at it. Kocoum instead turned to Mel and ripped her chakra brand from her hand and stormed off towards his Chief. "This weapon is powerful enough to destroy the demons! Think of the pain and damage it could wreak upon the village!"
There was a collective gasp as the keyblade was engulfed in a halo of soft light, and disappeared from his hand, reappearing back in Mel's for all to see. Everyone turned to stare at her, and she managed a faint smile.
"The keyblade is picky about who it will serve. Our people train to wield them properly, and to protect the light of the world." She said in a low but clear voice.
The old man walked up to the Chief and murmured something in his ear before they both walked towards the three of them. The Chief motioned for Mel to step forward, and made no move to stop her when Aqua put a hand on Mel's shoulder. He seemed to except it, and gave Kocoum a withering look when he looked on with disgust.
"Kekata is old and wise. He remembers much that we don't remember now. Once a pair of travellers came through this way, many, many years ago. Kekata was a boy at the time, and many of us here today had not yet been born." He looked to the old man, who Aqua suddenly realised with a flash of intuition was a shaman. That was why he had singled out Mel from among them, and it had probably gone a long way to securing hers and Terra's safety when they were first brought here.
"The men both bore weapons like yours, though both quite different. They did not stay long, but long enough to speak with the Chief of the time. He and the Shaman were in no doubt that these two men were no threat to the village, and I am in no doubt these three and their two friends mean us no harm." Kekata the shaman spoke in a subdued volume, but his words were still strong and clear, ringing out so the congregated villagers could hear every word. "You," he raised a gnarled hand and placed it over Mel's heart. "Remind me of one of those men."
Mel blinked, and comprehension dawned on her face. "What was his name?"
"He called himself Marick."
Aqua blinked in surprise.
"The other called himself Eraqus. The chief grew fond of him in the brief time they spent among us."
Aqua gasped, and the man drew his attention to her. "Really?"
"Yes, child." He gave her a penetrating look. "I see you know him too."
"He was my Master,"
"I see." The shaman gave her a once over before he spoke again. "And how is he?"
A lump rose to her throat, and she struggled against the ball of grief that rose in her chest. Most of the time she could be calm and collected about it, but having this sprung on her so unexpectedly…
"Master Eraqus is no longer with us." Terra said tightly.
"I see. That is sad news to hear. May his spirit walk the Road to the next life in peace." He turned back to Mel and said, "And I see you wear his mantle well, as leader of your people. He would be proud. You are very like Marick," he added.
"He is my grandfather."
"He is as you. Strong, Medicine Woman. Shaman. You do your path and calling a proud service."
Kocoum made a sort of strangled noise of anger, which drew attention towards him again. "Chief! These people are not like us, we cannot let them leave here alive! They could kill us all!"
"Kocoum!" the Chief said, raising a hand for silence, but he wouldn't have any of it. "Be still!" the Chief shouted, which caused a hushed silence to fall over the whole village. "Do you doubt Kekata's judgement?"
"For the sake and safety of our people? Yes!" he pointed at Mel. "Those pale faces with sun coloured hair have done nothing but harm to us! They sent the demons to destroy us!"
"No they didn't!" shouted another man from the onlookers angrily, and stamped forward to meet Kocoum's wrath. "That woman saved Uttan's life! He would have been killed by the demon bear if she had not stood over him while the other man fought it off, and then he would have bled to death if she had not tended to his wound as swiftly as she did!"
Pacco ran forward to back the man up, gesturing at Aqua and saying, "She saved my sister from the demons! She could have been killed, or drowned in the sea. I know these people are strange to us, but they did not threaten us, and they willingly threw down their weapons when we captured them. The pale faces would have killed us on sight. They may look like them in body, but they are not them in spirit!"
The villagers started arguing about it until the Chief raised a hand for silence. He decreed that the three of them were to go free and not to be harmed as long as they posed no threat to his people, with the promise that if they raised so much as a finger against someone, he would allow Kocoum to attack them. Aqua wasn't sure if he said it just to placate the fuming warrior, but she was left in no doubt that he meant the threat.
"You are welcome to stay and share our food," the chief said as the crowd dispersed. "Warriors of the Keyblade are something to celebrate, no?"
"Thank you, Chief." Aqua bowed her head politely and the others followed suit. "But we must look for our friends. With so many heartless around, I'm worried about them." She was deeply worried by this point. If she, Terra and Mel had been picked up by the warriors, surely Sora and Ven should have run into them by now too? Unless these 'pale faces' or the heartless had got to them first…
"I'm sure they can't have gone too far." Mel said placidly. "They might be a bit reckless, but Ven and Sora aren't stupid. Even if they get into trouble they'll be able to find a way out of it."
Terra turned to look at her, his entire torso as well as his head cocked to one side, eyebrow raised.
"It started off encouraging at the beginning, but I didn't feel very confident by the end of that speech."
Mel turned her verdant eyes on him, mimicking a stance that strongly reminded Aqua of Kyo and said without a hint of irony in her tone, "O ye of little faith."
"Chief!" a woman scuttled up to them, eyeing the pale skinned party with reserved fear. "Have you seen Pocahontas?"
"She should be helping to fix the canoes." Said the man, with an exasperated smile. "But I think I saw her near the corn field earlier. I am surprised she missed all the excitement."
"Father!"
"Ah, and here she is," he turned to another woman running towards them, before she skidded to a halt and stared at the three of them with wide, disbelieving eyes. She had the same statuesque figure as many of the other women, and the same strong facial features as the Chief; her short but modest dress was tailored to allow maximum freedom of movement, and her long black hair was unbound and flowing in the slight breeze. Her expression reminded Aqua forcefully of Ven – a gaping, gnawing curiosity that just had to be sated. "Pocahontas, these three are guests of the village. I trust I can leave their well being to you?"
XOXOX
Sora yelped as his knees hit the ground painfully, and a split second later Ven landed beside him, mud splattered across his face. They both blinked up at the man before them, slightly stunned by the turn of events.
One moment, they had been running through the forest, looking at every leaf and twig, having a great time – and then suddenly dozens of heartless had descended upon them all at once. By the time they had fought them off, they were both exhausted, and a group of men had ambushed them, taking all their potions and ethers.
Aqua was going to be so mad – at the men, and at the boys for getting caught.
Sora's ears burned with shame. Riku wouldn't let him live this down if they ever got away.
The man stood before them was wearing a rather old fashioned suit of a sort of purple-maroon colour, with a matching hat that had a feather tucked into the black band. His somewhat lank black hair was braided into pigtails, with silly little red bows tied at the ends. Sora wanted to laugh, but he normally ended up getting hurt when he laughed at the people in charge, so he refrained – even so, he caught Ven's eye and saw a flash of laughter there, and he had to look away with a grin. The man was quite fat, and his moustache did nothing for his face and chins.
"Governor!" Said one of the men who had dragged them here, "We found'em. Just like that man said, down by the clearing at the river."
The Governor drew a sword with an ominous ringing sound and held it out point first, lifting Ven's chin with it. He had an unsympathetic expression, and gazed down at Ven dispassionately as if he were a piece of art on show. Sora tensed, ready to strike first and ask questions later, but the Governor lowered his sword before giving the same treatment to Sora. His lingering gaze reeked of Darkness. He shot Ven a look, and the older man nodded imperceptibly.
Their belongings had been taken from them, and were spread before the Governor so he could examine them. Among them were Ven's pouch that Mel had made, Sora's small rucksack, all their medical provisions, some food and two water canisters, and the clasp knife Riku had given him. Ven owned a small dagger that was used more for shaving wood and cutting string and food – it wasn't really a weapon, but it and the knife were picked out instantly.
"Tell me, boys," The Governor said in a drawling voice that grated on Sora's nerves. "What would two fine young gentlemen such as yourselves be doing here in the new world – with nothing but a knife and a toothpick?"
"None of your business," Ven spat, and winced as one of the men behind him dealt a blow to the back of his head.
"We were just passing through," Sora said desperately. They had to get their things back, and find Aqua as soon as possible. "There are monsters around called the heartless, we were looking for them,"
The Governor's eyes widened and lit up, and he dismissed the majority of the men back to their duties, before beckoning a couple of them to escort the boys and his man servant towards a large tent in the middle of the camp. It was a barren sight – the walls were deep barriers of freshly cut wood, and the tents were a huddle of miserable looking canvas hovels; only the big tent they were kicked into had any comforts, and even this made Sora recoil. The heartless had definitely been here.
"So." The man said. "You know of the heartless then?"
"Yes. That's why we're here,"
"So, your name must be Sora." The Governor addressed him. "And you – you don't match the description given to me. What is your name, my boy? Wiggins!" he bellowed, making them both jump.
"Yessir?" said the thin, weedy looking name who seemed anxious to please.
"Bring us some tea!"
The man hopped to it, and as he scuttled off another man entered the tent. "Ratcliffe!" he stopped and stared at Sora and Ven, in a pile on the floor. "I'm sorry." He blinked, holding his hands up in surprise. "I'm not disturbing anything, am I?"
"No Smith. These two were found skulking about the riverbanks. What news to you have for me?"
Smith was as different from the Governor as could be – he was lean and agile, with sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a set of plain armour, with a gun slung over his shoulder and a bulging leather satchel hanging from his arm. He didn't seemed tainted by the darkness – he seemed…positively glowing with light; Sora could tell instantly he could be an ally.
"The locals have retreated for now."
"Good, good. And what of the digging?"
Smith set the bag down, and walked into the middle of the tent, something about his motions seemingly exaggerated. Sora watched, but Ven nudged him in the ribs, and he turned in time to see a raccoon scuttle across the floor, and the satchel conspicuously less bulging.
"Nothing Sir."
Ratcliffe snarled to himself. "Very well. Keep searching!"
"Sir, may I ask why these two are here?"
"We didn't do anything!" Sora said loudly, just as the Governor was about to turn round and see the raccoon. The little animal was scuffling about in the pile of stolen property; it dived and hid as the man stalked past, them double-checked before making a dash for a large chest in the corner behind a screen.
"Trespassing. Plotting with the savages. Trying to steal my gold!"
"What gold?" Ven asked, blinking. "There was gold?" he turned to Sora, wide eyed. "Aqua didn't say anything about gold!"
"First I've heard of it." Aqua wouldn't have been after any gold if there was any – they had a far more important job to do. But if she had known, would she have told them about it anyway?
"Aha!" Sora winced as the man grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled upwards. "So there are more of you! Where are your little friends hiding? Tell me!"
"We don't know!" Sora said, resisting the urge to struggle. He could knock this bully on his backside if he wanted, but it could be dangerous for the other men in the camp if they started a fight, and they needed to get information. "We split up! We haven't been here long and we weren't planning on staying!"
"We don't know anything about any gold," Ven added. "We're here for the heartless."
"Well, these monsters of which you speak," He let go of Sora, who massaged his scalp, wincing. "You couldn't possibly hope to fight them with this," he held up Riku's knife. "What on earth were you two boys doing?"
"We have other ways of fighting the heartless." Ven said defiantly, looking up at the man with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, and I suppose that's what your precious keyblade is for, then?" he simpered.
"How d'you know about the keyblade?" Ven demanded.
"I am remarkably well informed, my dear boy."
"Tea, Sir!" Wiggins said brightly, bearing a tea tray into their midst.
Ratcliffe took a sip from an ornate china cup, and Wiggins offered Sora and Ven some before hopping off to Smith, who took one and sniffed it before politely taking a gulp and setting it down on a table nearby – the boys didn't touch the stuff. Mel had introduced them to the ways of herbal tea, but they weren't prepared to risk drinking anything that this man presented them with.
"Well now, chaps!" Ratcliffe said briskly, rifling through some papers on top of the chest that the raccoon had disappeared into. "I think we can reach some agreement like civilised gentlemen, now can't we?"
Sora fought against the urge to gulp. This wasn't going to go down well, he could just tell…
"There are a bunch of savages on our land here, keeping the gold all for themselves. It's our mission to take back that gold! And I have it on good authority that keyblades are extremely good deterrents against meddling fools."
Ven snorted, catching Sora's eye, and they both grinned. Donald had a hissy fit every time they stuck their noses where they didn't belong. If anything, in their case the keyblade attracted meddling of every description.
"Would you two be interested in joining our venture?" Ratcliffe smiled unpleasantly and extended a hand to them.
Ven cocked his head to one side and gave Sora a sidelong look. Sora's lips twitched into a smile, and he said to Ratcliffe, "What exactly is this 'venture'?"
"To clear out the savages, and find my gold!"
Sora and Ven gave each other exaggerated, deliberating looks. "Well…" he said, dragging out the sound while Ven tried to hide his snigger. "Sorry Sir, but we're really just here to fight the heartless. We can't help you with the gold."
"And if I were to extend a portion of the gold to you for your assistance?"
Good thing Donald wasn't here. "Thanks but no thanks." Sora shook his head. "We have an important job to do."
"So if you could just give us our stuff back we'll get out of your hair and be on our way." Ven added.
"Oh," Ratcliffe smiled nastily, bearing down on them both. "I don't think so. Either you're with me, or with the savages. And I'll brook no opposition. This is your last chance, lads."
"So…you want us to side with you, after," Ven started counting off on his fingers, and it occurred to Sora they might be pushing their luck a bit far at this point. "You ambush us, steal our things, threaten to kill us…yeah, it's not a very strong argument you've put together there."
Ratcliffe's face was unreadable. He snapped his fingers and Wiggins appeared like an eager dog and he said, "Get the men in here and take these two halfwits to the prison cells. They are not allowed out, and dock them to half rations each,"
Ven raised an eyebrow at Sora, who nodded once. As the men approached to take them away, they flung their arms out and summoned their keyblades. There was a time and a place for a brawl, and this was definitely it.
The men went down easily, but as they advanced on Ratcliffe, he raised a large black stone like a smooth pebble the size of his fist, and suddenly it felt like all the colour in the tent was sucked away. Sora's knees gave in and he landed heavily on all fours, and moments later Ven collapsed beside him, gasping for air.
"You two will be kept under lock and key, I think. I can't have you messing with my plans, or free to destroy the heartless. I am in need of their assistance if I am to find my gold."
Sora frowned, trying to keep the man in focus as the rolling blackness kept threatening to over take him.
"Smith!" was the last thing he heard before he went under and felt the ground against his cheek.
When he opened his eyes again he was bound tightly to a harness set in the wall of a dank wooden hovel, his arms held at a painful angle above his head and shackled at the wrists. The draining feeling was still lingering, and he saw a series of black stones set in a row along the floor of the room. On the opposite wall Ven was clamped in a similar harness to Sora's, and he was barely conscious. Sora tried not to panic as he looked around for a means of escape; nothing sprang immediately to mind.
It felt like being in the Under World – his energy was being siphoned off and he couldn't call forth any allies, use any magic, and he had no energy for forcing a drive form. With Ven hardly awake, it was looking very grim indeed. He tried to rouse himself and summon his keyblade, but it gave him a piercing pain that lanced through his skull and his right hand ached alarmingly. Something weird was up with those stones if it blocked even his keyblade…
"Nnngh…" Ven shook his had laboriously and slowly raised it, eyes squinting in the half-light of the room from a single lamp hanging from the low ceiling. "Sora…?"
"Over here,"
"What happened…?"
"I don't know. But Ratcliffe cheated!" If not for these weird stones, they would have knocked him out cold with one hit! But because of these stones, they were incapacitated…
Ven let out a long breath, and for a moment he didn't drew it back in, and Sora worried there was something really wrong with him. The he drew in a shuddering breath, and said, "We are not gonna pass the exam if we can be beaten this easily…"
"Riku's gonna love this…" Sora moaned. He could just see it now: the taunts, the humiliation, the abject defeat… No! They would bust their way out of this somehow!
"Aqua's gonna kill me."
"C'mon, cheer up! We'll get out somehow," Sora tested the shackles bound to his wrists. "A friend of mine showed me how to pick locks,"
"With what, thin air?" Ven snapped irritably. Maybe he was just hungry…Sora was definitely dying of thirst right about now.
"Well, these look like pretty simple locks. Maybe if we just…" he tried shaking them at different angles to shift the mechanism inside.
"Sora, what are you doing?"
"Aladdin said if you get the right angle…" Sora said, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. "You can just…ouch!" the corner of the manacle bit deeply into his wrist, and a trickle of blood trailed down his arm.
"Stop! You could hurt yourself, or get the wound infected."
"A cure spell will clear that right up-"
"With what magic?" Ven demanded. "Don't be stupid, Sora!"
"Well we've gotta do something," he huffed. What would Riku do in this situation? Laugh at him. That was not entirely helpful… Riku always had a plan – he never had to wing it like Sora did because he was always prepared.
Ven exhaled loudly and looked around the room, searching for something – anything. There was a long wooden pole with a broken metal piece at the end leaning against the frame of the small door, too far away for either of them to reach though they stretched their legs as far as they could towards it. Ven was closest and he was still about a foot short after he had splayed himself out to his fullest extent.
"Damn it!"
"There's gotta be something else," Sora said firmly. Every hopeless situation before this had yielded unexpected and fruitful results, there was no reason they couldn't find a way out of this one now.
"What the heck are those things, anyway?" Ven nodded at the row of black stones on the floor.
"Dunno. But it feels like it did in the Under World. You know, Hades' realm." An idea suddenly flared into life in his head. "Hey, Ven! Do you know any spells that reverses the effects of curses?"
"Huh? No – you need talismans for that. Only mages like Yen Sid could pull off a verbal spell like that, and I'm not so good with magic…"
"Me neither…" Sora sighed and cast his gaze to the ceiling. "I wonder if Donald knows any counter curses?"
"Those things are freaky," Ven pulled a face and turned away from the line of black stones. "It's like looking into black holes…"
Sora took another look around the room. There were hooks on the walls at random intervals, a hole in the ceiling were apparently a chimney was located, and a low bench on the adjacent wall to the ones were they were chained. Ven was closest to the door on the other side, and Sora was nearer to the furthest corner. The stones were aligned in a perfectly straight line at seemingly perfect and regular distance from each other. There were seven of them in total, and Ven was right; they seemed to have no substance, just appeared as a void in space and time, sucking and draining them of energy.
"I feel kinda sick…" Ven said in a subdued voice, breaking Sora's concentration. "How long you think we've been here?"
"Dunno." He licked his dry lips – his thirst was starting to over take the urge to find an escape.
"They must be looking for us by now, right…?"
"Even if we can't bust our way out, I know someone will come and help us." Sora said firmly, assured already in his heart and trying to impart that confidence to his friend. "Remember that Smith guy?"
"Not really…"
"I don't think he's a bad guy." Sora said defiantly.
"Uh-huh." Ven was sagging against the wall and his bonds.
"Ven? Ven! Hey! Stay awake!"
"I can't…" he said weakly. "I wanna go to sleep…I'm really tired."
"You spent over a decade asleep! You can't be sleepy!" it did nothing to rouse him. "Ven!"
The door banged open and ricocheted off the wall; a young nervous looking man scuttled in, followed by Smith, and Sora feigned sleep. They poured water into their mouths, and left some food within easy reach if not for the shackles. Smith stood looking around the room, and then dismissed the younger man.
"Go on, Thomas. I'll take care of this."
"Are you sure John?" he asked uncertainly.
"Positive! Go on, before all the rum's gone," he threw the water skins to him, and the young man gave him a quick smile before he left the room with great haste.
Through his half closed eyes, Sora saw Smith crouch down and put something on the floor and heard the soft murmur of indistinct words before he also left, casting a wary look at the stones on the floor. So he didn't like them anymore than they did.
"Yah!" Sora jumped out of his skin when something crawled up his leg. "What?" it was the raccoon he had seen earlier in the tent. Its muzzle twitched into a smile, and it held up a piece of bread to him from the plate that had been left on the floor. "Huh? Who are you?"
The raccoon chattered happily and stuffed the food into Sora's mouth before scuttling back down to the ground to pick something off the floor. It was a scrap of paper, with a single word written on it in loopy handwriting. It took a while for him to read it, first in the dim light of the room, and second to get the raccoon to hold it still and at the right distance so his eyes could focus on it.
Tonight.
Sora grinned. He knew they had an ally in the camp! Now if he could just convince Ven to stay awake…
The raccoon scuttled back down and scampered over to Ven, climbing nimbly up his leg with a piece of bread in its paw. Ven didn't respond at first, even with the food being stuffed past his lips. He tried to rally himself, and with extreme difficulty he raised his head and opened his eyes.
Ven screamed and tried to kick out, away from the thing in his face. The raccoon yelped and dived out of the way, cowering behind Sora's leg.
"It's okay! He's a friend!" Sora said quickly.
"What the hell is that thing!" Ven started shaking, and Sora noticed he was freezing. "Where did it come from?"
"I think I know."
"You think?" Ven said weakly, sagging against his bonds, his face unusually pale.
"Tonight I'll know for certain."
XOXOX