Chapter 14: Tom and Hester: Journey across the Great Hunting Ground?
Sora and Kairi stared in absolute wonder at what was in front of them. It was a giant floating city; it was shaped like a giant doughnut kept afloat by giant air bags, airships of all shapes and sizes flying in and out from the giant floating city
"Wow" they both said in unison before turning to each other grinning, Sora held out his hand "What do you think m'lady shall we explore this magnificent metropolis?" she nodded and took his hand eagerly "Yes sir!"
They walked down one of the many streets, people in all different types of outfits walked past. Some were dressed like gypsies others like some kind of sky pirate. Kairi and Sora saw what looked like slaves and what they assumed where slave owners. Sora couldn't help but frown at this, he didn't like seeing slavery. There were stalls selling jewellery and other things which immediately sparked Kairi's interest.
Sora let her go seeing as she would probably take forever and went into the nearest inn which was just across the street. He asked for a room for two and then sat in the bar, "Wonder what exactly we're supposed to do here?" he said to himself.
"Excuse me sir?" he heard a deep male voice behind him causing him to jump he turned round to see a tall dark skinned man with a beard "I was wondering where exactly you got those marvellous threads of your" he said pointing to Sora's clothes. Sora was slightly taken back at this, usually people asked him about his crazy hair. "Errrm….I made it?" he said thinking of the first thing that came to his head.
The man burst out laughing "I can see you are not used to these sorts of compliments, forgive me I'am Captain Khora of the gunship Mokel Mbembe I make a living fight against the Traction city's but I also make uniforms for the Anti-Traction league and your magnificent clothes have inspired my new design"
Sora decided this guy wasn't as weird as he had thought and shook his hand "Cheers, my names Sora" Khora sat down "Pleasure to meet you Sora, I was wondering where exactly you come from, your accents is unfamiliar to me and I have met just about any race on this planet"
Sora was saved by Kairi walking into the inn looking for him "This is my wife Kairi" he said as he walked up to out his arm around her, she blushed and looked like she was about to say something when she saw Khora "What are you doing?" she whispered furiously, "Just play along, this guy knows people, that way we might find out what world this is" he whispered back. She frowned but put on a smile and shook Khora's hand.
"Hi, I'm Kairi, pleasure to meet you sir" Khora kissed her hand, "The pleasure's all my mine my dear, so you two are married are you? Ahh young love makes me remember the days of my youth when I cruised the sky's and met many beautiful maidens, then this war came along and I haven't found the time to settle down"
"War?" said Sora interested, Khora nodded "Why yes the war against the Anti-Traction league and the barbaric Traction City's, were making the world green again, have you been sleeping under a rock my boy?" he asked amused. Sora scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly "Yeah we haven't exactly been keeping up with recent stuff, we live alone" Khora shook his head amused. "Well me and the rest of the aviators can tell you all about it but not here, I'am meeting up with a dear friend of mine called Anna Fang and I would love for the two of you to accompany me"
Sora looked over to Kairi, she could tell he was really wanted to find out more and she decided it was better than walking around aimlessly so she smiled and nodded, he grinned "Sure, why not"
KHROS
The inn was big and dark and busy. The walls were decorated with airships in bottles and the propellers of famous old airships, Sora took notice of all the different names such as Grand Zeppelin XXIX and Hindenburg XVI. There were aviators clustered around the metal tables, Khora introduced Sora and Kairi as the "Private couple who are need of a brief history lesson" he had said amused, the couple looked awkward sitting with the other aviators as they had no idea what language they were speaking.
They perked up when the food came; Kairi had travelled to several exotic restaurants on Destiny islands and was braver than Sora was. "Oh my god Sora, you have to try this it's amazing!" she said as she chewed on something long and black. "Are you a fan of steamed tarantula legs Kairi?" asked Khora amused, Kairi looked down at her food before shrugging and eating more, Sora on the other hand looked disgusted.
"I could really do with a good old fashioned fish and chips right about now" he said to himself as he took a tiny bite out of some fried desert bat.
He then heard someone, a women, squeal out Khora's name and then he was whirling her around in his arms, she was very pretty. She was of Asian descent and had short black hair and was dressed in a red overcoat with a badge on her breast saying "Anti Traction League" they started talking in some language Sora didn't recognise
Sora noticed that behind her were two people, a boy and a girl, they both looked around the same age as he and Kairi. The boy was similar in appearance to him with brown hair, he looked tired and nervous at the same time, Sora got a vibe that this guy had seen some pretty extreme stuff. The girl on the other hand looked horrific, her face had been split by a gash like scar that left her mouth in permanent sneer and left her nose as a smashed stump and her single eye was grey, her coppery hair was unkempt and greasy looking.
Khora and the women, who Sora assumed was Anna Fang had gone back to talking in English as the two teenagers came closer "We rode high-level winds all the way from Zagwa! Khora said, he shook some red sand out of his helmet to prove it.
They sat down and Khora introduced Anna to Sora and Kairi, she eyed them curiously as she shook hands with them "Can't say I have ever seen you two before and considering how you both dress I could only imagine were you came from" Sora laughed uncomfortably and put his arm around Kairi "We sure haven't been keeping up with the fashion sense have we dear?"
She shifted uncomfortably but mumbled "I'm going to strangle you", Anna shrugged and she introduced her companion to them "Sora, Kairi this is Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw, they are my travelling companions looking for a way to get back to good old London" Sora raised an eyebrow at that. "You come from London aye?" he said to Tom, Hester mearly grunted and hid her face with a red cowl, Tom nodded enthusiastically "Yes I was… accidently pushed off by a man named Valentine and I've been trying to find a way back for some time on the Great Hunting Ground. If it hadn't been for Miss Shaw me and Hester would have been sold off as slaves"
Sora wasn't really sure how to react to that so he just nodded, "So what to you and your wife do for a living?" asked Tom, Sora choked on some of his water, he wasn't sure how to answer but Kairi saved him "We're travelling entertainers" she said simply slapping Sora, hard, on the back, he weakly gave a thumbs up while having a coughing fit.
The group all sat down, Khora and Anna talked about their battles on what they called the Hunting Islands. It became apparent to Sora, as he was listening in, that there was some kind of war going on between the Anti-Traction League and what Tom called Traction City's. "But what exactly are Traction Cities" Kairi asked Tom as she ate some more battered dormouse, Tom looked at her strangely "Khora was right, you two really have been living far away from modern society. Traction cities are basically giant machines that represent a city, for example my town is London and is built from the remains of the original London"
Kairi looked confused "I don't really understand" Tom pulled out a photo and showed her a picture of London. It looked like a giant wedding cake with different tiers on top of giant caterpillar tracks, on top was a building she recognised when they visited Neverland "St Pauls Cathedral!" she said amazed. Tom looked impressed "Why yes, seems you do have some knowledge of Traction City's after all"
Kairi frowned; she didn't like being in an unfamiliar world as it made her and Sora look stupid when they didn't recognise something which was obvious in this world, still the people seemed nice enough and they had been instructed to find out more about this world so she wasn't going to complain. Sora was listening in on what the aviators were saying, Hester wasn't saying anything and Tom was inspecting his food.
Khora leaned in close to Tom "So are you and your girlfriend crewing aboard the Jenny now?" Kairi laughed as Tom started waving his hands around frantically "No,no!" Tom assured him quickly. "I mean, no, she's not my girlfriend and no, we are just passengers..." he then tried to change the subject "So you know Miss Fang well?" Kairi and Sora also leaned in interested in finding out more about Miss Fang.
"Oh yes!" laughed Khora. "The whole air trade know Anna. And the whole of the League too, of course. In Shan Guo they call her "Feng Hua", the wind flower."
Tom looked like he was about to say something but Khora went on, "Do you know, she built the Jenny Haniver herself? When she was just a girl she and her parents had the bad luck to be aboard a town that was eaten by Arkangel. They were put to work as slaves in the airship-yards there, and over the years she managed to sneak an engine here, a steering vane there, until she built herself the Jenny and escaped"
Tom, Sora and Kairi were impressed "She didn't say" Tom murmured, he looked over at the aviatrix.
"She doesn't talk about it," said Khora. "You see, her parents did not live to escape with her; she watched them die in the slave pits" Sora and Kairi shared a look, they couldn't help but feel sorry for Anna, and they had lost their parents and had to work to save themselves.
"Arrival on strut fourteen!" blared the loudspeaker overhead. "London airship GE47 carrying passengers only." Tom jumped up and his chair fell backwards with a crash, Kairi and Sora looked up confused. "They've sent someone after us!" he gasped.
Miss Fang was rising to her feet as well. "It might just be coincidence," she said. "There must be lots of air-ships from London….And even if Valentine has sent someone after you, you are among friends. We are more than a match for your horrible Beefburgers"
Sora and Kairi looked confused until Tom said "Beefeaters," then all the lights went out.
There were shouts, boos, a crash of falling cutlery from the kitchens. The windows were dim twilight-coloured shapes cut out of the dark. Kairi took Sora's hand as the loudspeaker came on again "The electrics are off all over Airhaven! The power-plants must have failed"
"No" Hester said quickly, this was the first time either Kairi or Sora had heard her talk; she sounded on an edge of panic in voice as she said "I know this trick. It's meant to create chaos and stop us leaving. Someone's here, coming for us.."
From the far end of the room, where crowds of people were spilling out on to the moonlit High street, a sudden scream arose. Then came another and a long crash of breaking glass, shrieks, curses, the clatter of chairs and tables falling, Sora transformed when no one was looking, he choose the form of the Oblivion Keyblade.
Two green lamps bobbled above the crowd like corpse-lanterns. "That's no Beefeater!" said Hester. Kairi couldn't tell if she was frightened or relieved. "Hester Shaw!" screeched a voice that sounded like a saw cutting metal. Over by the doorway a sudden cloud of vapour bloomed and out of it stepped a monster.
It was seven feet tall, and beneath its coat shone metal armour. The flesh of its long face was pale, glistering with a slug like film of mucus, and here and there a blue-jag of bone showed through the skin. Its mouth was a slot full of metal teeth. Its nose and the top of its head were covered by a long metal skull-piece with tubes and flexes trailing down like dreadlocks, their ends plugged into ports on its chest. Its round glass eyes gave it a startled look, as if it had never got over the horrible surprise of what had happened to it.
"It's impossible" Tom whimpered. "There aren't any Stalkers! They were all destroyed centuries ago!" Kairi raised her Keyblade cautiously as the metal monster approached them slowly, shoving aside tables and chairs. An aviator swung at it with his sword, but the blade rebounded from its armour and it smashed the man aside with a sweeping blow of one fist, not even bothering to look back
"Hester Shaw" it said "Tom Natsworthy"
"I…." began Miss Fang, but even she was lost for words, Kairi realised that they had never seen something like this before but she had fought Shadows, killer clowns, masked maniacs and dragons. So she stepped between the Stalker and its prey, Khora and the others drew their swords. But Hester pushed passed them
"It's all right" she said in a strange thin voice. "I know him, let me talk to him"
The Stalker swung its dead white face from Tom to Hester lenses whirring inside mechanical eyes "Hester Shaw" it said.
"Hello Shrike" said Hester.
The great head tilted to stare down at her. A metal hand rose, hesitated, then touched her face, leaving streaks of oil.
"I'm sorry I never got the chance to say goodbye…"
"I work for the Lord Mayor of London now," said Shrike. "He has sent me to kill you."
Kairi heard Tom whimper as Hester gave off a brittle little laugh. "But… you won't do it, will you, Shrike? You wouldn't kill me?"
"Yes," said Shrike flatly, still staring down at her.
"No, Shrike!" whispered Hester, then Miss Fang made her move. Kairi saw her draw a little fan-shaped sliver of metal from her pocket and sent it whirling toward him; it unfolded into a razor-edged disc. The frisbee however simply hit his neck with a clang and lodged there, quivering.
The slit of a mouth lengthened into a long smile and he darted forward, quickly as a lizard. Miss Fang sidestepped, jumped past it and swung a high kick, but it was far too fast for her. "Run!" she shouted at Hester and Tom. "Get back to the Jenny! I'll follow!"
Tom and Hester obeyed and ducked under Shrikes arm as he snatched at them, Khora ran and grabbed his arm and one of his aviator friends swung his sword at his face. Shrike flung him off and raised it hand, there were sparks of metal clashing on metal and the aviator dropped his sword and clutched his arm, howling in pain. Anna charged at him but he threw her onto Khora and some of the other aviators.
Kairi ran forward and smashed her blade into its side, it left a reasonable dent and oil started to leak out, Shrike looked impressed and she jumped back "Your blade is impressive" he said in his gas-leaking sounding voice. He then swung at her with razor sharp claws that expanded from his fingers, Kairi blocked, holding her blade against her like a shield.
The edges of his blades gashed her arm and she bit down on her lip to resist crying in pain, then there was an explosion and the building rocketed. Shrike used this time to run and leap forward out of the front window and run down the street. Kairi held her arm as she heard screams and cries outside before hearing an ominous laughter fill the halls.
She dashed past the recovering Anna and the others and ran out onto the main street, her eyes widened at what she saw, it was a Neoshadow but it looked different from any others she had encountered. It had green veins all over its body and it looked more muscular and the antennae were shorter but what surprised Kairi the most was when it started talking to her.
"Greetings Keyblade wielding meister Kairi of the DW academy, my name is Novashadow and I'm honoured to be your killer" it said in a strange feminine voice before charging forward and elbowing Kairi, hard, in the gut.
Kairi was sent flying backwards and crashed into a stall, she groaned and tasted blood as she picked herself up, she was breathing heavily and there were cuts and bruises on her arms and face. "You ok?" said Sora. "I'm fine" she snapped before charging forward and slamming her Keyblade onto its side. Novashadow caught the blade in its hands, Kairi grinned and waited for it to let go in pain, as the Keyblade burned Shadows but it didn't.
Novashadow kicked her away, she looked confused as a sneering mouth appeared on its face "Surprised? You should be. I'm the first Shadow that is immune to the Keyblade and that basically means you've lost!" it said before punching her, she blocked but was still sent flying.
Kairi tried to pick herself up but she was struggling "If this keeps up I'm going to lose all my energy!" she said to Sora. "What do you think we should do?" he asked as Novashadow walked closer and closer to them. "I don't know maybe we could try using Soul Resonance? With Trance we might have a chance"
Sora nodded and they concentrated "Let's go Soul Resonance!" they said in unison as their souls began to resonate and Kairi felt Sora's power flow into her, she was almost overwhelmed as her hair went purple and her Keyblade transformed "Trance!" they shouted in unison.
She charged forward as Novashadow clenched its fist "Bring it!" it shouted as she swung her new keyblade "Ultima Weapon!" she shouted, she slammed the Keyblade into Novashadow, it didn't cut it but it did act like a club, slamming into it and sending it flying through one of the barriers and over the edge of Airhaven. She heard its screams as it tumbled down to the land beneath.
Kairi felt her energy leave as she began to feel faint, the battle had drained her and Sora caught her before she collapsed, "Gotta keep fighting" she whimpered before closing her eyes. Sora held her close "Your amazing you know that?" he whispered as he felt the floating town begin to tilt and drop.
A/N I really like this chapter, mainly because Sora and Kairi visited the world of my favourite book Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. I decided against them joining the heroes for the main adventure because I would rather people just buy the books themselves as they deserve more attention.
I have been thinking more about this story and I'm honestly thinking about skipping some chapters and from now on I'll only be using world's that are home to the main villains or the forthcoming main ones, all the villains will be revealed in the next chapter. The original next chapter was meant to see Riku and Xion travel to world based off the anime Claymore but know that will happen off-screen. I also want the focus to go back to Sora and Kairi as they are meant to be the main characters.
So the next chapter will see the heroes reunited and the villain's first real introduction in Chapter 15 Meister and Weapons Can Love: Enter the Cell Games?