Chapter 33: Bear Hunting

Sora cracked one of his eyes open before emitting out a loud yawn as he stretched in his bed. He hadn't slept in like this well…before the peace had come so sleeping in was well refreshed and lovely. He was always up and running even after he defeated the darkness. And the bed was comfy too which was a bonus. Sora gazed at the closed curtains of his window but just by looking at it made Sora have a small flashback from last night.

He shuddered as he saw what he had seen. It had unnerved him especially since he hadn't seen anything like it. Should he tell the others? Probably but Sora didn't know if it was that concerning. Right now, the most important thing was to find that darn page that was giving them all kinds of trouble.

Sora was sure they would have the page in here particularly since it just felt right considering how this world also has magic so Sora thought it would be fitting. Grunting, Sora rubbed the sleep of his eyes before he unscrambled himself from the bed but where he thought he had fully untangled himself from the sheets, he was proven wrong. He tumbled down to the ground unpleasantly since the sheet got entwined with his ankle.

Sora groaned from the unexpected impact, rubbing his jaw from the side.

What a great day to start off the morning.

Regardless, after fighting with the sheets, Sora finished his usual bathroom routine before he exited out of the room. He didn't know where the others would be but in any case, they would probably be at the Dining room or whatever it's called here for breakfast; speaking about breakfast, Sora's stomach growled from hunger and he put his hand over it.

I'm going…

Upon entering the kitchen room, laughter boomed around the room just as Sora opened the two heavy doors. But as he opened them, all of a sudden, his face was met with something unexpectedly, totally throwing him off guard. There seemed to be a sheepish gasp which came a second later.

The oncoming attack slid of Sora's face, falling to the ground with a flop sound but it only revealed Sora who was twitching from the unforeseen attack.

"ALRIGHT! WHO DID IT?!" Sora exploded, instantly having the people jump from startle.

This was not how he wanted to have his morning go.

Scowling, Sora glared at the people who were surrounding the large wooden table and all of them seemed to be pointing at Donald at the same time. Donald looked at the accusation before he exclaimed.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Donald scowled. "It wasn't me! It was him!" he shouted, pointing at Riku.

A small argument between Donald and Riku came. Merida left the group as a small amused smile came on her face and she walked towards Sora who was still fuming. She handed him a napkin while Sora joined the group.

"Thanks," Sora said as he wiped off the remaining food that was on his face.

Merida nodded. "Anytime."

Sora looked down and saw that there was a bowl of porridge in front of him. He raised an eyebrow, staring at it. Shrugging, Sora picked up the wooden spoon and stuffed a spoonful into his mouth. An odd sensation entered his mouth and he tried not to gag.

Ugh…porridge I can do without, Sora thought, making a bitter look and cringed.

Regardless, as Riku and Donald were glaring at each other, Sora kept poking his food with his spoon while Kairi, Merida and Goofy all gave annoyed sighs.

Sora sighed, placing his spoon into his mouth while he rested a side of his head onto his hand, being in thought.

Gee…I wonder what was up with that pit from last night. I wonder if it's still there. Either way, it didn't look good but that creep in the hood was freaking me out. What kind of prophecy was that? Maybe one of Merida's books in the library could have the answer…

Even though Sora was deep in thought, Sora didn't notice the glance that came from Kairi as she studied him with a thinking look.

Hmmm…he seemed to be deep in thought. I wonder what he's thinking about…

"…right, Sora?" a frown came. "Sora?! HEY EARTH TO SORA!"

Sora gasped from the loud yell but because of that his arm (the one that was holding his head) slipped and lost balance, causing him drop his head while dropping his spoon to the side.

"What?" Sora replied with eyes wide.

Riku smirked. "Well. Someone was certainly in a deep thought. Wonder who he's thinking about…" he grinned.

A small tint of blush came on Sora's face and he stammered, declining of Riku's thinking since Sora knew where he was going.

"N—no! Absolutely not!" Sora fumed. "It's not that!"

Riku chuckled before giving a small glance to Kairi who rolled her eyes.

Ugh. Boys, Kairi thought. She then gave a small look to the side, gazing at Sora. Still though…he is pretty cute…

She gasped. What am I thinking!? Kairi thought and laughed sheepishly which earned odd glances from the group and she silenced herself.

"So…now that we're all coming to an end with breakfast, I was thinking we could continue our search in the library to look for that lost page," Merida spoke.

Donald groaned. "We looked a hundred times! I don't think we would ever find it in the library! Besides, I don't think it'll just show up in the library just like that. Maybe there is a specific way for that page to appear…"

Riku frowned. "Well, if that's the case then how did Cruella got that page when we were in Elsa's world?"

"Who?" Merida asked.

"A friend of ours that we had met before coming to this world," Goofy answered as Merida nodded from understanding. Nevertheless, it made Goofy paused in thought.

"Hey! What about that witch we had encountered in the beginning? You know, where Sora apparently saw those blue lights ("It wasn't apparently! I swear I saw them. They were real!" Sora insisted). Maybe the witch knows the answer."

Donald shivered. "You mean that creepy old witch that lives in the cottage house? Forget it! She creeps me out! I vote that we continue to search in the library as Merida suggested."

"Gee, Donald. You're not scared, are you?" Sora's grin grew wider which made Donald frown.

"Ah, put a sock in it."

Sora chuckled but he went back to his thoughts as he suddenly got an idea. Maybe Goofy's idea isn't that bad at all. Besides, I could kill with two birds with one stone. I could ask the witch about the page and the prophecy or whatever you want to call it.

"I agree with Goofy's idea. It doesn't seem that bad at all. Besides, she seems to know all about magic, considering she's a witch. She knows how to conjure potions and spells and whatnot…so why not give it a shot?" Sora asked.

Donald made an unhappy face. "Fine. But you're doing it. I'm not going anywhere near her."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever…"

"Great! I could come with you!" Riku replied.

Sora widened his eyes. "Uh, no!"

Odd glances were given at him, making Sora gulp from his sudden outburst.

"Uh…I mean that is…I think Merida would need all the help in the library. After all, it is a big place and going to the witch's house would only take a few minutes…" Sora stammered. "Heh…"

Merida nodded. "Sora's right. I would need all the help I could get. We could split ourselves in groups like last time and go from there."

Riku sighed. "Alright…"

"Great. So uh…I'll be back in a few minutes and I'll join you later in the library. See ya!" Sora replied before he got off his seat and made a mad dash towards the door went from out of sight.

But the look from Riku never left him. Nevertheless, Kairi was also staring at Sora, wondering about his strange behaviour as well.

What was that about? I wonder if he's hiding something…Kairi then turned to look at Riku who was staring at the direction of where Sora had just left.

It looks like I'm not the only one who's wondering the same thing.

Whew. That was close, Sora thought as he went down the hall. Though, I think I might've left some giving me odd looks but hopefully, it went smooth…heh…

Sora stared down as he lifted his hand, flexing it. A darkened look fell upon his face as his mind went back to when he saw Cruella in Arendelle.

"In other words, you simply don't want to become a hero anymore…"

Sora winced, remembering the shocking news of what Cruella had delivered. Could it, in some ways, Cruella could be right? That Sora didn't want to be a hero anymore?

Sora shook his head. No. Of course, he wants to be a hero still. He gets to go on an amazing adventures, travel around the worlds, fighting baddies with his awesome magic…gaining new abilities…

The list could go on but he would have to stop wandering and he would really have to look where he was going before—

Ompfh!

Sora fell to the floor after bumping into something.

Ugh, I should really stop being so lost in thought.

"I'm sorry," Sora apologized as he lifted his head only to see the King. He widened his eyes and quickly went on his knees. "Your Highness. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to worry about…" the King responded but his voice seemed…off. Like he was dazed or spacey.

Raising an eyebrow, Sora lifted his head and stared at the King. He suddenly got a weird vibe from him which made him feel uneasy. Slowly, Sora got up and resumed the conversation.

"Um…is everything alright, sir?" Sora asked, hesitated.

The King nodded, unfocused. "Yes…yes…I was just heading…to the library…"

Sora blinked. "Oh um…alright…well…I hope you have a good read or search," he said awkwardly while shifting to the side and then making a mad dash in order to get away from the King.

Wow…talk about being loony. That sure was weird.

Nonetheless, Sora slightly disregarded the small talk of the King but it was still in his mind although he didn't really think twice about it as much. He eventually reached the witch's house but this time, instead of barging like last time, Sora knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

The minute he knocked on the door, it got opened, much to his surprise.

"Hello?" Sora called out.

Creaking sounds were heard from Sora as he was stepping on the wooden floor.

"I see that you have returned…"

Sora jumped from startle and he whirled around to see the witch wobbling out of the shadows.

"You mustn't mess fate, dearie," the witch responded. "It wouldn't do good for a boy such as yourself especially since you're carrying such a heavy destiny."

"Heavy destiny?"

A twinkle in the witch's eyes sparkled. "Aren't you the boy that carries an incredulous weapon called the Keyblade?"

Sora widened his eyes. "How do you know that?"

The witch chuckled as she walked towards the table. "That only confirms my theory, boy," she then paused and she turned slightly to the side, fixing her eyes on Sora. "Tell me why you're really here…"

Sora shifted in his seat. "Um…well…My friends and I…we're looking for a special kind of page and if it were to fall into the wrongs hands, terrible things would happen. Right now, they're looking for that magical page but we had no such luck in finding it. So I was thinking if you had perhaps encountered one of them?"

Without a word, the witch flipped the book that was already on the table and then once she flipped several pages into the book, she took something out. A small smile crept onto her face as she turned around but what Sora saw made his eyes go wide.

"Perhaps this is what you're looking for?" the witch grinned wider.

"That's the page!" Sora said breathlessly. "But how did you came upon it?"

"Funny story, really. You see, I was just cleaning my bookshelves since I was looking for a specific kind of book and then, this page appeared, seemingly fluttering hopelessly in its spot."

Sora widened his eyes from excitement, leaning forward to the page but the witch instantly withdrew which caused Sora almost lose his balance.

"Ah, but I'm afraid I won't just simply give it to you. If you want the page so badly, I need a favor from you."

Sora groaned. As if he got time to do a favor but if he needs that page, then he must do it.

"Fine. What's the favor?"

The witch smiled twisted. "You see, I'm concocting a potion but one of the ingredients requires a bluelight flower. Its special abilities allows the wearer to be enhanced and have its magical abilities be stronger than before. But due to its nature, the potion only lasts for a few minutes."

This only made Sora sigh. "Alright. Alright. I'll go and get your precious flower but you better keep your end of the bargain. Where is this flower?"

"It's in the Rings of Stones," the witch replied as she took out another book and she flipped the old pages until she found the spot.

Sora walked forward so he could get a better look at the location but when he saw the spot, Sora gave out a gasp and he backed out, suddenly slightly being frozen on the spot.

"Something the matter?" the witch asked.

Sora's eyes widened even more as a small flashback came into his mind. He visited that place yesterday but back then he didn't know what the place was called.

"Uh, no. Nothing. Uh, I'll go get your flower," Sora stammered.

The witch smiled. "Great!"

Eyes still wide, Sora stumbled out of the cottage house and headed straight for the woods once more. Even if he was going towards the forest, he hoped that he wouldn't encounter that cloaked figure from before.

But at least, he found the page!

Rather, Goofy's suggestion had found the page but in order to obtain it, Sora has to go look for a stupid flower for the witch's potion.

Ugh, I don't have time to go do something girly…

Sulking, Sora eventually entered the misty area of the forest. Like before, Sora felt the same unpleasant aura that was emitting out of the area. He felt queasy and had an instant discomfort of the current location and he wanted nothing more than to grab that flower and to get out of here.

Upon arriving, just up ahead, Sora was able to see a gleaming blue light that was reflecting off. His eyes widened from the success of finding the flower but that said flower just happened to be a few feet away from him since it settled on top of a large boulder.

Sighing, Sora resumed climbing up the slightly steep hill. It seemed weird that the flower was just sitting by itself on a rock.

"Almost there…" Sora stretched out his hand even further in attempt to grab the flower. He then moved his foot up high a bit. "Got it! Woah!"

Despite his success, Sora found himself tumbling forward, going down the boulder and down the hill, rolling until he finally got himself to stop. Groaning, Sora raised his hand towards his neck, rubbing it.

"This is what I do to get this stupid flower. I hope the witch is happy," Sora grumbled as he sat back down.

However, Sora lifted his head and suddenly got frozen in his spot. He stared at the scene before him, eyes wide with shock and his heart was hammering against his ribcage.

"Oh no…" Sora gasped. Wasn't there an area with bubbling magic? I think this is it…whatever was bubbling inside, it's definitely gone.

Right on cue, a loud roar was heard which made Sora cringe. He wildly looked around and he quickly got up, slowly taking a few steps back. Out of the shadows, something large was coming out and it seemed as though Sora was unable to move. The shadow got closer and through the dull light, Sora was able to make out the form.

It was a large black bear with glowing eyes; one yellow and one red. That was what most of the appearance what Sora was able to make out. But as the bear was coming out of its spot, something seemed off about him but Sora had no time to ponder what it was since the bear gave out another mighty roar and this time, Sora was able to move again.

Grabbing the flower in a tight hold, Sora quickly turned around and started to run. He didn't need to know that the black bear was catching up to him. Running from blindness, Sora tripped over a rock, tumbling to the ground. He grunted before turning around and started to scramble backwards.

The bear began to advance upon him though as for Sora, his back touched against a tree and the creature kept moving forward, snarling and growling; his eyes gleaming.

The bear then lunged forward and Sora lifted his hand in front of his face, bracing for the impact.

But it never came.

Curious, Sora lowered his hand down and noticed that there was another bear that seemed to have tackled the black bear away from him and the two began to fight one another. Sora watched the scene but winced when the black bear scratched at the other one.

Man, I wish I could do something…Sora widened his eyes, mentally smacking himself. That's right! I can! I have the Keyblade!

Scrambling up, Sora tucked the flower inside his pocket and whisked out his hand. In a heartbeat, a tinkling sound came and instead of having an empty hand, there was a medium-sized Keyblade which made Sora grasp the handle.

Alright! It came!

And the Keyblade came just in time too since the large creature shoved the other bear and the bear got hit.

"Hey!" Sora cried out, running towards them. "Knock it off! Go pick someone your own size! Deep freeze!" Sora shouted.

Even though Sora didn't necessarily aimed it at the black menacing bear, he aimed it just below his paw so that the bear jumped from discomfort and he turned his head towards Sora who just jumped in mid-air, raising his weapon above his head, being ready to strike it down against the creature.

The animal roared, baring its teeth and he was also ready to strike.

The enemy raised itself on his behind legs, making himself be even taller than before and Sora widened his eyes.

"Uh oh…" in an awkward timing, Sora called upon his new command. "Shield!"

But the timing came a bit too late since the bear was still able to slice across Sora's waist, slashing through his clothes and knocked him to the side and he struck himself against the wall, being beside the other bear.

Wincing, Sora got up and he ignored the pain. Growling, Sora raised his weapon and shouted:

"Thunder!"

The attack seemed to have work since the loud booming and the crackling lightning made the bear be at a discomfort before he changed his mind and went to the other way. Exhausted, Sora slumped back down and muttered a quick "heal!" where he was able to feel the magic coursing through his body.

Sora glanced to the side and heard the heavy breathing from the bear and he knew that it was injured. Slowly, he moved towards it but the bear didn't flinch.

Sora slightly brushed away the fur, revealing the wound that was on the bear's side.

"I hope this works…" like before, Sora raised his weapon. "Heal! Bear!"

Sora felt the magic unfolding itself since it danced towards the bear, allowing to heal the wound. The magic was then faded away, leaving an even more exhausted Sora.

"Sorry. That was all I could do," Sora replied until a twinkling item captured Sora's eyes as he stared at the head. "Hey, you're the Queen! Merida showed us to you."

If Sora could see it, the bear had just nodded its head but Sora missed it.

Sora got up and it seemed as the bear had also gotten up too. "Well, thank you for rescuing me. You better lie down and rest until that injury is healed up. Um…I've got to go…your Highness…" Sora awkwardly bowed before he took off.

However, he stopped since he gave one last glance to the bear before taking off.

Author's Note: HI GUYS! I'M BACK! AND I JUST SAW THE NEW TRAILER OF KINGDOM HEARTS AND I SOBBED! IT'S BEING RELEASED NEXT YEAR AND I CAN'T WAIT! So, Sora managed to find the flower only to run into a…bear! What happens next? Find out! Toodles!