Here's chapter thirty - five. Thank you TWI1IGHTMAST3R, Bookworm Gal, and caitlinkeitorin for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Thirty - Five: Burning

Lea whipped around at the sound of something behind him, eyes slowly stretching wide as he saw the elongating shadow that was dragging itself into existence. "A Heartless?" He took several steps backwards as the massive creature started to take form, formerly untouchable shadows shifting into claws, bull-like horns, and slightly taper head-

And suddenly he realized he'd fought this creature before.

"The Heartless from Radiant Garden." What did it want? Why did it keep following him? And, more importantly, why was it currently only staring at him?

The Heartless growled quietly, yellow eyes narrowed. Lea, not having a weapon, decided the best course of action would probably be to flee. It seemed the moment he'd made that decision, however, the Heartless sprang to life, jagged jaws parting in a furious roar. Lea found himself rooted, transfixed as he watched the muzzle elongate into a long, fine point. The bull-like horns grew longer, arching closer over the eyes. The claws on its hands virtually disappeared and its arms shortened slightly, while its back legs seemed to grow longer. A wire-thin tail whipped away from its body, swaying back and forth in the air.

Lea could only think of one thing to say at that moment; "It transformed?"

Then the Heartless lunged at him.

He jerked himself free of his thoughts, dashing away to try and avoid the fingers that reached forward to grab him. The Heartless snarled, planting one hand on the ground and spinning around on it, the lower half of its body colliding with trees and sending them crashing to the ground. Lea shoved his hand into his coat to withdraw Ifrit's crystal as the Heartless regained its footing and raced towards him. "Ifrit!"

A blinding red light obscured his sight for several moments, followed by a war cry and what sounded like a screech of pain from the Heartless. When Lea blinked the spots out of his eyes, he saw Ifrit had his hooves planted firmly on the ground, his hands wrapped around the Heartless's horns as he tried to hold it back. "Seems like you need my help a lot lately, eh, Master?"

"I just have some bad luck," Lea sighed in response. His eyes and attention, however, were focused on the Heartless. Why does it keep following me?

Ifrit let out a roar and jerked his arms to the side, causing the Heartless to roll over. He hit the massive creature's stomach with first one fist, then the other, alternating to strike it. He managed to do this for only a few moments before the Heartless grabbed his arm with its hands. Ifrit released a cry of alarm as he was thrown to the side, the Heartless returning to its feet in nearly the same instant. A roar ripped free of its throat as it lunged forward, jagged jaws wrapping around the summon's body. He let out a howl, thrashing as he attempted to free himself from the Heartless's grasp.

Lea was left staring, at a loss for what to do. For a second time that day, he entertained the possibility of running, and for a second time, discarded the idea.

It seemed to be, though, that his worries were unnecessary. "Hellfire!" Flames burst around Ifrit's body, licking the Heartless's mouth. With an enraged cry of pain it released its captive, allowing him to drop to the ground while the flames continued to smolder for a few moments inside its maw. Ifrit rolled to his feet, coughing slightly, the went into a bull-like charge. The flames were just dying from inside the Heartless's mouth when his head collided with its. Both reeled backwards at the strike.

The Heartless recovered first. With a roar it stood to its full height, its imposing form towering near the tops of the trees. Then it jumped, forcing Lea to shield his eyes as he watched it rise. The black blur in the sky swiftly came flying down, and as it neared he realized that it had gone into a dive.

Ifrit barely had any time to react. His arms shot up, but all they managed to do was prevent the massive horns of the Heartless from piercing his chest. He let out a cry of pain, bright red, smoldering blood exploding from the punctured points on his arms. He lifted his feet and kicked them into the Heartless's stomach, freeing himself. Shaking his arms with a hiss, he stalked back over to Lea. "Geez. You really are helpless, aren't you, Master?"

"It's not my fault I can't summon my Chakrams."

You're wrong. But wait, you don't want redemption. Maybe I'll just butt out.

Lea flinched as Axel's words resonated with the ones Zylen had spoken prior, but didn't respond to them.

Ifrit's words interrupted his thoughts. "Well, I can't stay here forever, you know. And if I keep bleeding like this, it'll be an even shorter time." He shook his arms again, spraying more drops of smoking blood.

"Careful!" Then Lea's eyes widened as he looked at the blood that was slowly corroding the ground. "Wait. I have an idea."

"Hmm?" An angry roar broke in. "Better hurry; I think its pissed."

As the Heartless charged for them, Lea shouted, "Smear your blood across its eyes!"

"Huh? Okay, sure, I guess." Ifrit launched himself forward, bringing his arms forward as the Heartless neared. He winced as the horns gored his shoulders, but managed to swipe the punctures in his arms across the massive creature's eyes. Smoke spiraled upwards and the Heartless immediately pulled back, roaring in pain.

Ifrit was suddenly grinning like a maniac. "Now that's a plan!"

And now I can get away. "Come on; let's go."

"Hold on a second." Flames began to collect around the fire demon. "Just a parting gift before I leave." The flames grew bigger. "Hellfire!"

"Shadow, where are we going?"

Shadow glanced back at Angel and shrugged, a faint grin on her face. "I don't know. But we need to do something, right?" Angel sighed in exasperation, rubbing his temples. "Well, now that Axel knows about us, we should probably take care of him."

"Huh? Wait, do you mean actually take care of him? Like, kill him?"

"You have a better option?"

"Not kill him?"

Angel stared at her a few moments before releasing another sigh of exasperation. "Shadow," he began irritably, "if he gives away what he knows about us to that man, we're in big trouble. We don't need any more issues."

Shadow was saved from answering by what sounded like a huge explosion. "What was that?" Angel asked, whipping around and looking for the source.

Shadow saw it in the form of a plume of fire rising above the tree line of the forest they'd just come from. "Let's go!" With that, she was off.

"Shadow!"

Lea lifted his arms to try and shield himself from the intense heat of the flames, screwing his eyes shut. He could hear the Heartless's screech of agony above their angry roar. His eyes slowly opened as the flames died down, revealing a steaming red crystal where Ifrit had been.

Lea cast an uncertain glance towards the Heartless. The blood had evaporated from its eyes, but it seemed the damage remained. Currently it seemed to be recovering from the attack. He took the opportunity to dash towards Ifrit's crystal, scooping it up and shoving it inside his coat. Now's my chance. He back away, keeping his eyes on the Heartless until he reached the tree line. By this time it had risen to its feet, whipping its head around as its blinded eyes searched for what he assumed was him.

The sound of a snap caused him to freeze. The Heartless's head whipped towards him at the noise. One yellow eye slowly opened, the dim orb focusing in on him. He held himself completely still, hoping it wouldn't notice him.

It proved him wrong with a roar as it charged forward.

Lea pivoted on his heel, sprinting off into the forest. Why couldn't it have just been easy? The sound of crashing resounded behind him as the beast charged through the forest, its bellows echoing off the trunks of trees as it chased him. He had the sinking feeling that he'd be unable to escape. Unless I can open a Corridor of Darkness. The thought was desperate, and only had a slim hope, but he was running out of options. He lifted his hand, hoping to call a Corridor into existence. The best he got were some faint streams of darkness. Shit.

The ground shook, and with each bound the Heartless grew closer and closer. Lea didn't dare glance back; he could practically feel its breath down his back. What am I going to do?

Then an idea struck him. Wait; it can't see very well right now. So… He stopped abruptly, dropping to the ground and silently praying for his plan to work.

A shadow passed over him as the Heartless continued forward.

Lea released a relieved sigh, then held his breath again as he realized the Heartless had stopped just a few paces in front of him. The creature whipped its head around, silent as it searched for any trace of him. It took a few paces to one side, nostrils flaring, the started walking back towards him. Resisting the urge to run away, he allowed his fingers to slowly curl into the ground, emerald eyes flicking up to the beast's chest as it loomed above him. It slowly turned its head first one way, then the other, the only sound in the stillness its faint breathing and the heartbeat pounding in Lea's ears.

But that didn't last for long. From the area of the forest closer to the populated area of Twilight Town came what sounded like someone crashing through the undergrowth. The Heartless whipped its head in that direction and, with a snarl, raced off towards it.

Lea remained where he was for a few more moments, making sure the Heartless really wasn't planning on coming back, before releasing his breath and slowly returning to his feet. Shadow and Angel? he wondered, narrowing his eyes in the direction he'd come. For a few beats, he felt a twinge of guilt.

Then he shook it off. Whatever. It's not like we've ever been that friendly, right? Better them than me…

The bandages that were still wrapped tightly around his chest reminded him all too uncomfortably that they had, in fact, been very helpful. But that wasn't something he was willing to let himself think about now.

A furious bellowing had started by the time Shadow reached the trees outside the town. Confused and curious as to the source, she raced blindly through the bushes, ignoring branches as they cracked against her skin. Angel followed a few paces behind her, most likely unhappy at the turn of events.

It was a few moments before she realized the angry roars had stopped. Instead of stopping herself she quickened her pace.

Suddenly the ground was shaking beneath her feet. This did nothing to detour her; what did finally force her into an abrupt halt was the giant Heartless that suddenly sprang from between the trees. Her feet dug into the ground in an attempt to keep her from running into it, the action causing her to fall backwards.

"Shadow!"

Angel's voice seemed to draw the Heartless's attention. It whipped its head towards him, roaring and lunging forward. Angel summoned his Keyblade and jumped to meet it. "Hey!" Shadow protested. She summoned her own Keyblade and attacked the Heartless's legs. Flashing a cheeky grin at Angel, she added, "Can't let you have all the fun."

"Just don't do anything stupid."

"Who, me?" Her grin turned innocent.

Then the Heartless charged at them, forcing them to return their attention to the task at hand.

That's the end of chapter thirty - five. Reviews would be great, please?