Chapter 29 Stampede
"Stay with Mickey okay?" Master Eraqus says to Sora and Riku who both nod that they will. Master Eraqus then turns and leads Master Yen Sid out of the kitchen leaving Mickey to keep an eye on the two boys. They head upstairs to Master Eraqus' office where, once they are seated, Master Eraqus stares expectantly at Master Yen Sid.
"First, I must ask if there has been any change to Ventus," Master Yen Sid says.
"I have yet to tell him about Xehanort or the x-blade," Master Eraqus replies. "I do not think he is ready to handle that yet. But he does know that he must stay away from darkness at all costs, and as far as I can tell he has been doing just that."
"Good," Master Yen Sid says taking a short pause to collect his thoughts. "As you know, Mickey and I have been traveling worlds in search of Xehanort since the last time we spoke. So far, our search has been fruitless, and the few leads we had were wrong turns. However, while we were traveling, I detected a shift in the balance of light and dark in the world of Carinol. Do you recall in my letter, before we knew Ventus, I asked you to find a light on Carinol that was going out?"
"The light that keeps the world from fading into darkness," Master Eraqus muses. "That was Ventus."
"Indeed," Master Yen Sid replies. "In that light deprived world, Ventus played a large role in keeping the balance. Now it seems that without him the world is falling to its darker side. If we do not intervene, Carinol will be consumed by its darkness in only a few days time."
Master Eraqus sits back taking this news in. No world deserves to fall to darkness. "It sounds like the only way to save the world is to lock the keyhole," Master Eraqus states.
Master Yen Sid nods in agreement. "That will stop the darkness from taking over." Master Yen Sid pauses again before voicing another thought. "I am curious as to Xehanort's roll in this. I have no proof, but I feel that he is somehow involved. Eraqus, no matter what, you must keep Ventus from returning to Carinol in its current state. There is too much darkness, it is too big of a risk."
Master Eraqus nods slowly. "I agree. However, he will not be easily dissuaded from going."
"I have already spoken to Mickey and the people of his homeworld. They have agreed to watch Ventus, as well as Riku and Sora, while you and your other apprentices tackle this new threat."
"Thank you Yen Sid," Master Eraqus says. "I would not have felt comfortable leaving Ventus unsupervised. Are you and Mickey going to continue your search?"
Master Yen Sid nods. "We will follow this lead, and see if we can find a connection between Xehanort and the darkness of Carinol."
"Good luck, and be careful," Master Eraqus says seriously. "Xehanort has always been crafty. I fear we will not know what his plan is until it is already too late to stop him."
Master Yen Sid doesn't reply, but the worried expression on his face agrees with Master Eraqus. The two old friends stand and leave the office to return downstairs to their apprentices. They return to the kitchen to find Mickey and the boys huddled around the open refrigerator.
"What have you three been up to?" Master Eraqus asks and Sora and Riku run over to him excited.
"Mickey showed us how to make jello!" Riku tells him.
"It's green!" Sora adds with a big grin.
"I hope cha don't mind Master Eraqus," Mickey says placing a tray of green liquid on one of the shelves in the fridge. "I found the mix in the pantry, and Sora and Riku got kinda excited."
"It is perfectly alright," Master Eraqus replies. "Thank you for keeping them occupied and thank you for opening your home to them when we go to Carinol."
"My pleasure," Mickey replies with a smile as he closes the fridge door.
"Mickey," Master Yen Sid says. "It is time for us to depart."
"See ya soon," Mickey says waving to Sora and Riku who wave back.
"Riku, Sora," Master Eraqus says to the two boys as the others leave. "Lesson have been postponed today." Sora raises his hand. "Yes Sora?"
"What does postedpone mean?" He asks
"Postponed Sora. It means that there are no lessons today. You can just go play," Master Eraqus says in amusement seeing their faces light up. As they run off to their toys, Master Eraqus walks slowly back to his study, lost in thoughts of how to tell Ven that he cannot go with them.
…
"This is quite an impressive kingdom sir," Terra says to Mufasa. He, Aqua, Mufasa, and the hornbill Zazu are standing on a large rock on the savanna and gazing over the peaceful landscape Mufasa rules over.
"Thank you Terra," Mufasa replies.
"Oh look, sire," Zazu says pointing with one winged arm down at the savanna below them. "The herd is on the move."
"Odd," Mufasa says watching as the large herd of wildebeest move from their normal grazing grounds in the savanna and run down into the gorge. The group turns to return to Pride Rock when Scar suddenly scrambles up the rock to them with a distraught expression.
"Mufasa...quick...stampede...in the gorge. Simba's down there!" Scar says out of breath.
"Simba?" Mufasa says fear in his voice. He at once runs in the direction of the gorge with Terra, Aqua, and Zazu close behind.
"I'll find him sire!" Zazu cries and flies ahead of them, diving down into the gorge. He flies over the stampeding wildebeests, searching frantically for the small cub.
"Zazu!"
The terrified shout makes Zazu spin around to spot Simba clinging to a dead tree in the middle of the gorge. Zazu flies to him seeing that Ven is also in the same danger as Simba. "Zazu! Help us!" Simba cries.
"Your father and your friends are on their way," Zazu says quickly. "Just hold on!" As Zazu pulls up and away from the two struggling cubs he can hear both Simba and Ven cry,
"Hurry!"
"Mufasa!" Zazu calls out as he comes out of the gorge.
"Here Zazu!" Mufasa calls to him from the edge of the gorge where he stands with Aqua and Terra. Zazu flies as fast as he can to them shouting as he does so.
"There! There! They are on that tree!"
"They?" Aqua says in a fearful voice.
Zazu nods. "Ven is with Simba."
The three lions waste no time as they quickly make their way down the side of the gorge each consumed by frightening thoughts for the two cubs. As soon as they reach the bottom they are thrust into the stampede. Within seconds, they are separated by the hundreds of wildebeests running past them.
Running with the flow of the stampede, Aqua keeps her eyes set on the lone tree where she can see Ven and Simba starting to lose their grip on the trunk. Their terrified yelping gives her a burst of energy and she shoves her way through the wildebeests coming out in front of the tree. Mufasa is already there and together they run at the tree just as a wildebeest smashes into the base at full speed. The weak dead wood splinters immediately and Ven and Simba are sent tumbling through the air.
Together Aqua and Mufasa charge and jump into the air catching the cubs in their mouths. Aqua lands with Ven and immediately loses Mufasa and Simba in the sea of wildebeests. She runs and dodges the wildebeests trying to find a way out of the stampede, but she is suddenly struck in the side by one of the animals. She is knocked off her feet and Ven is once more flying through the air.
He lands hard, but quickly sits up looking around for Aqua. All he can see are hooves flashing past him at terrifying speeds. Cowering in fear, Ven is trapped and it is only a matter of time before a wildebeest would unknowingly trample him. But just as one heads straight for him, it is sent flying off as Terra slams into it. Terra turns quickly, scooping Ven up in his mouth, and runs to the edge of the gorge dodging countless wildebeests.
Terra spots a ledge high enough up the side to be safe and with a grunt of effort he jumps high enough to pull himself up. He sets Ven down and says quickly, "Stay here. I'll find Aqua."
Without waiting for Ven to argue, Terra jumps back down from the ledge and back into the fray. "Aqua!" He shouts, but his voice is barely audible over the sound of pounding hooves. He searches frantically for her. A wildebeest hits him sending him to the ground, but he quickly rolls to his feet ignoring the scrapes and continues his search. A small cry of pain makes him spin around and race off towards Aqua who is lying on the ground having just been thrown by one of the stampeding brutes. "Aqua!" Terra shouts running to her side. He is panicking as he takes in the blood on her fur, but she begins to get to her feet making him sigh in relief. She is unsteady and obviously in pain, but she still manages to give him a small reassuring smile. Then, her eyes widen in fear, and Terra spins quickly swinging his claws with a roar at the wildebeest that had almost trampled them.
"I got Ven," Terra yells over the noise. "C'mon!" He leads her back to the ledge he had left Ven on guarding both of them from the wildebeests as Aqua is too injured to do much. They reach the ledge where Ven is looking down at them with an expression of fear and relief. Aqua tries to jump up to the ledge, but in her weakened state she struggles to pull herself up. Terra gives her a boost and she finally reaches safety.
Terra jumps and gets his front paws on the ledge. He begins to pull himself up, but a wildebeest knocks into him, and makes him lose his hold. Just as he is about to fall, something latches onto his right paw, keeping it in place, and he is hanging onto the ledge by one paw. He looks up to see Ven had pounced on his paw and is keeping him from falling. With a roar of effort, Terra swings his other paw back onto the ledge and Aqua grabs it. Terra scrambles with his back paws to push himself up while Aqua pulls him up. When he gets halfway onto the ledge, Ven grabs his ear in his mouth and tugs. With one last effort by all three of them, Terra is on the ledge and they are collapse together breathing hard from exertion and fear.
"Cur-Curaga," Terra says placing a paw on Aqua. She shivers slightly as the numerous scratches and bruises she had from being nearly trampled to death heal.
"Cura," Aqua says placing a paw on Terra's scraped side. His injuries heal as well and he nuzzles her gently. The trio remain huddled together in silence except for the occasional sniffle from Ven. It's not until the sound of pounding hooves fades and an eerie silence echoes through the gorge do they venture off their small ledge.
"Where-where's Simba?" Ven asks.
"Mufasa had him," Aqua says reassuringly. "I'm sure he's..." She catches sight of something large lying on the ground under a broken tree. "...fine."
Venturing closer, they are able to make out what they are seeing and together they gasp in dismay. Mufasa is lying on his side with his eyes closed. He isn't moving. In the silence of the gorge they can hear a quiet voice full of tears. "You gotta get up. Dad. We gotta go home." Simba is next to his father pulling on his ear in a futile attempt to wake him. Ven moves to go to his friend's side, but is stopped by Scar who appears out of the dusty air.
"I will take care of him," Scar says quietly. "You all may leave now." His tone leaves no room for argument, but Ven tries anyway,
"But...but...," he stammers trying to hold back his tears.
"C'mon Ven," Terra says quietly using a large paw to turn Ven away from the sad scene. "Simba's uncle will make sure he's alright. We have no place being here."
With one last look back to see Simba hugging Scar, Ven lets Terra and Aqua lead him out of the gorge and back onto the open savanna. Ven walks between them with his head down. Aqua looks down at him sadly to see him rub his eyes with a paw. She stops and crouches down to him. "Oh Ven," she says sadly pulling him into a hug which he returns, gripping her tightly as a sob rock his small body.
"I-I thought I was going to lose you guys," Ven sobs out. "I-I couldn't see you. I thought- I thought-"
"Shh," Aqua says soothingly. "We're right here. We're safe. You're safe."
Sniffing, Ven pulls back and wipes his eyes. "Can we go home?"
"Of course," Terra says gently. He reaches down and gently picks up Ven. He turns his neck and deposits Ven on his back. Ven curls up and buries his face in Terra's thick mane as Aqua leads them to a more secluded area to summon a light corridor.
"Well, well, well, Banzai. What do we have here?" Out of the shadow of a pile of boulders, the female hyena who had spoken walks to the trio with two more hyena's flanking her. They begin to circle the keyblade wielders who watch them warily.
"Hmm, I don't know Shenzi," the hyena named Banzai replies. "What do you think Ed?" The third hyena just laughs insanely at the question leering at Aqua who growls at him. "Yeah, just what I was thinking," Banzai says. "We caught ourselves a king."
"What?" Terra asks, but instead of giving an answer the hyenas pounce.
Ven, who had been watching the whole scene silently from Terra's back, yelps in shock as Shenzi tackles him off of Terra. They roll for a moment across the ground, but they when they come to a stop, Ven is pinned down at his shoulders by the larger hyena. Ven struggles and growls at Shenzi who just laughs at him. Ven looks to his left and right to see Terra and Aqua both involved in heated fights with the two other hyenas. "What the fuck do you want?" Ven growls at Shenzi.
"Woah," she says laughing. "Is that the way a king should be talking?"
"King? I'm not a king?" Ven says confused.
"In denial are you?" Shenzi replies. "Reality check. Daddy's dead and you, Simba, are the new king." Ven stares at her confused, but before he can correct her she whispers one last thing to him. "And I don't like kings."
With that, she snaps down at him with her jaws wide open and showing her sharp teeth. Ven reacts on instinct and in a flash his keyblade appears in his mouth, blocking Shenzi from biting his throat. She yelps in surprise and jumps off him. Letting his keyblade disappear, Ven scrambles to his feet and growls at her with the hair on his spine standing straight up. "I'm not Simba."
"No, you most certainly are not," Shenzi replies backing away slightly. "Banzai! Ed! We've been seeing double! This ain't him." She turns back to Ven with a sly smile. "Honest mistake," she says. "We were just kidding."
Ven glares at her not believing her apology. He quickly summons his keyblade. "Fire!" A small fireball bursts out of his blade and hits Shenzi in the head. A few of the hairs on her head catch fire and with much yelping she puts out the flames.
"Alright, alright. We're goin'," she says as she and the other two hyenas back away slowly before sprinting back into the shadows.
Aqua comes over to Ven, and checks him quickly for injuries. "You okay?" She asks and Ven nods.
He looks curiously at Terra who is standing a little ways away from them with one paw held out and a look of intense concentration on his face. A pinprick of light appears in front of his outstretched paw, and it quickly becomes a full sized portal. With a small smile, he turns to others and says, "Let's get out of here." They nod and follow him through the portal.
…
"We're back!" Aqua calls as they enter the castle. They pause expecting Sora and Riku to come running, but they don't. Exchanging shrugs, the trio makes their way into the castle.
"I'm starved," Terra announces and heads off in the direction of the kitchen.
"Where are Riku and Sora?" Ven asks looking around the empty sitting room. All the toys are there, but the boys are nowhere in sight.
"In here," Terra calls to them from the kitchen. "I found them."
Ven and Aqua enter and can't help but laugh at the scene before them. Sora and Riku are sitting on opposite ends of the kitchen table. Both have their heads resting on the table, and a plate of green jello squares is in front of each of them.
"Are you guys okay?" Aqua asks moving to the table.
Both boys nod their heads without lifting them from the table. "We had a jello eating contest," Riku mumbles. "I won." He and Sora both groan.
Trying not to laugh, Ven asks, "How much did you win by?"
Riku holds up a hand with three fingers raised. Ven grabs Sora's plate, picking up one of the jello squares. "C'mon Sora! Three more to tie! You can do it!" Ven says energetically trying to get Sora to eat the jello.
"Noooo," Sora moans. "My tummy hurts."
Ven shurgs and pops the jello square into his mouth. As he swallows, Master Eraqus enters the kitchen with a strange look on his face. "Ah, you're back," he says. "Did you enjoy being lions?"
"I was only a cub," Ven complains and Master Eraqus smiles, but it looks fake.
"I'm sorry Ventus," Master Eraqus replies. "Well, it is almost dinnertime. Ventus, did you want to go to Traverse Town today?"
"Uh," Ven says surprised by the question. "Sure."
"Alright, I'll let you go by yourself on one condition," Master Eraqus says. "Use a light corridor to travel, not your glider."
"Ok," Ven says. "I haven't made one yet, but I'll try." He holds his hand out in front of him and concentrates hard. He even closes his eyes to shut out all other distractions. A warm, tingling sensation starts on his hand, and he opens his eyes to see that he has succeeded in creating a light corridor.
"Very good Ventus," Master Eraqus praises. "Here." He hands Ven a handful of munny coins. "Buy dinner for yourself and Zack."
"...Thanks," Ven says looking at Master Eraqus with his eyes narrowed slightly. Was it just him or is his teacher acting a little strange?
With a final look back, Ven walks through the portal. As it disappears, Master Eraqus visibly relaxes. "Master Eraqus," Aqua says hesitantly. "Is something the matter?"
Master Eraqus sighs, but doesn't answer her question. "Will you two get Sora and Riku into bed? When you come back I have some news I must tell you." Terra and Aqua comply and carefully pick up Sora and Riku ignoring their half hearted moans of protest, and leave Master Eraqus alone to figure out how to tell them what is going on.
Zephyr26: The hairball part was my favorite from last chapter. Glad you found it funny.
Mexi: Ven made it! Well, he was a little traumatized by the whole thing, but he's fine.
MLSoT: Your reviews always crack me up. FYI more cliffhangers are coming just to keep everything suspenseful. :) sry!
SnowKawasagi: Haha yeah when Master Eraqus finds out about Aqua and Terra (yes he is going to find out) he's gonna sit them down for a super awkward conversation.
Hmmm...I don't really know what else to write in my AN today.
I guess I'll just explain a little about what happened at the end of the Pride Lands visit 'cause I didn't explain it at all in the story.
Ok! So you know how, in the movie, after Scar tells Simba to run away, he sends the hyenas after him to kill him, but they mess up and let him escape? Well, this was my twist on that. Scar sent the hyenas after Simba to kill him, but they got confused because Simba and Ven have the same fur color (remember that from last chapter?). So they attacked Ven, Terra, and Aqua instead by mistake and that bought time for Simba to escape.
That make any sense? no? Well whatever it isn't that important.
Yay for another date with Zack!
K thats all for now. See you in a couple days!
