"Land ho!"

"Lea, Goofy, there's an island up ahead!"

Sora slapped the water several times to get the attention of their aquatic sentries.

"Any more signs of Heartless or Nobodies?" Sora asked as Goofy's head broke the surface.

"Not for a while. You?"

"Same. It's probably fine for you both to come up topside for the remaining length to the island."

"There sure are a lot of 'em." Goofy commented, hauling himself up on the canoe, transforming back as he did so.

"It's not that different from my world," Sora said. "Though not many of our islands are this far apart."

"Do you think we even need to stop?" Donald asked. "We haven't been traveling long enough from the last island to need supplies."

"Well, we're bound to meet up with our other friends sooner or later. Making sure we have enough for them wouldn't be a bad idea," Goofy said. "Besides, I wouldn't mind walking on solid ground for a while. No offense, Ocean,"

The waters at the edge of the boat rose up then slapped down again.

"On that note," Sora added, hand still on the rudder. "The ocean's been pushing us in that direction. Maybe it knows something we don't,"

"Yeah, I guess that all makes sense. Hey, where's Lea?"

"Right here,"

Lea pulled his upper body onto the canoe and let his crimson-scaled tail just get pulled beside him.

"What took you?" Goofy asked.

"A dumb decision that proved to be just that."

"Eh?"

"What happened?

"I saw one of those sea pincushion things,"

"A sea urchin?"

"Yeah, that. It didn't look that sharp so I touched it."

"What?" Donald squawked. "That was dumb!"

"I acknowledge that. And it did stick me. Only I didn't know how brittle they were until I tried to get it out. So I spent a minute trying to burn it out."

"Underwater?" Sora questioned.

"Boiled then. I think I got it all. But,"

Lea held up his right hand. Sure enough the side of his pointer finger was a little pink. He looked seriously between the three of them.

"Test of friendship time. In case I missed anything I'm going to need one of you to suck out the poison."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"You would've burned away any venom. You're fine."

"Fine, fine. You're probably right. But if not I hope you all can sleep with a clear conscience if I get an infection."

"Think you could get us there a little faster?" Donald muttered to the ocean.


"Hold on. Something's…off."

"Eh?"

"What?"

"I don't know. Just…hold up a second."

Getting to the shore did not take long. Once in shallow water the team hauled their canoe onto the sand (even though the ocean probably wouldn't have let it drift away). Seconds after observing the tree line did Lea make his comment.

"What's the big deal? It just looks like another tropical jungle," Donald said. "Let's get going."

"No, Donald, wait. I think Lea's on to somethin'." Goofy said. He glanced carefully back and forth and up and down the trees line. "Hmmm," He scratched his chin.

Sora stood between Lea and Goofy, trying to see what they were seeing.

"If it was just one of you it might be easier to look over. But you're both doing it. So…what's 'it'?"

Several quiet, thoughtful seconds passed. Well, quiet except for seabirds and Donald tapping his foot in the sand.

"Hey Lea," Goofy said. "Remember how we was talking about all tropical islands lookin' the same?"

"Uh-huh. This one should only look minimally different but it doesn't. I just can't put my finger on what that detail is."

"Me neither," Goofy agreed with a frustrated, concentrating second.

"Ah, phooey! You two have just been in the salt water too long. C'mon! We're still on an important mission." Donald started walking through the trees.

"Donald, wait!" Sora protested though there was little choice but to follow. "Yeah, I don't know what they're talking about but half of our team things something's off. Maybe-."

"With the scenery! Really, Sora, not you too. Look around. Yes, it's beautiful but no less than every other stop we've made. See anything wrong? No. Tall trees, green grass, colorful flowers and white sand, as expected. Now c'mon! I'm not going to be the only one here not paranoid."

"Geesh, maybe you're the one who's been out in the sun too long."

"Wha-!"

"Flowers?" Goofy muttered thoughtfully.

"What's that?" Lea asked.

"Is it the flowers? Goofy asked. "Not sure how but, hmm."

"I…I think you're right. I don't know how either but, hey Sora. On your island, are all plants in bloom at the same time?"

"I-me? Well, um, no. I'm not expert but not all plants flower at once. Some only bloom once a year or longer. Some plants don't have flowers at all. They…" Sora trailed off, perhaps catching on to what Lea and Goofy were getting at.

"You are all ridiculous!" Donald squawked impatiently. He turned to Lea. "Don't drag Sora into your imagination. Besides, you're from Radiant Garden. Shouldn't you be able to answer your own questions? Your home city is full of flowers all the time. It's not that different."

"Yeah, by design," Lea countered. "The wilds of nature aren't that organized."

"You're not going to like this, Donald, but I think they're onto something."

"Whadja find there, Sora?" Goofy asked.

The young Master knelt down in a very thick patch of dune grass. He ran his hands through the soft blades before pulling up several and inspecting them closely.

"Look at this," Sora passed the blades to Goofy. "Notice anything?"

"Hmm, I don't think so? Those little white and pink flowers sure are pretty though."

"That's the thing, dune grass doesn't have flowers. There are plenty of plants that like the sand that do have flowers but not grass. Now that I think about it, does any kind of grass anywhere have blossoming flowers?"

"Well, there's…" Goofy paused. "You know I think you're right."

"Everything is in bloom at once and so are things that normally don't at all," Lea stated. "Now, come on. By no means are any of us plant enthusiasts but isn't that a bit odd?"

Donald gave a heavy, exasperated sigh. "Fine. I'll see if I can find out what's going on."

Muttering and grumbling Donald stood in a patch of lush grass facing the trees. He raised his wand and focused. After a moment or two of silence,

"Huh?"

"What is it?" Goofy asked.

"Magic passed through all these plants not long ago. And a lot of it."

"Any particular direction?" Sora asked.

"Uh, *mutter*letmesee*mutter*, that way? Yes! Down that way! C'mon!"

With that Donald took off down the beach, companions in tow. Though, no doubt the change of tune was to distract from his previous naysaying.

Down the beach looked the same. Colors appeared to too vibrant to be real. Flowers of all kinds were in lush bloom. Beautiful, most certainly. However it almost looked too perfect to be taken seriously.

"Wait a minute!" Lea came to a sudden stop. He grabbed Sora by the collar.

"*Gulk!*"

"We're being stupid. One of the princesses did this. Sorry."

"I'm fine." Sora said, adjusting his shirt. "I cannot believe we didn't think of that first. Right before the storm that separated us all, remember how she controlled that seaweed?"

"That's right," Goofy said. "She stole that shield out of my hands!"

"Stole? How could an item that never belonged to you be stolen?"

The heroes jumped and whipped around. The new voice had come from above them. They had come upon a rocky rise at the edge of the beach. From the top a wide yet gentle waterfall made its way to join the ocean. Looking down on them stood a beautiful brunette woman in an outfit of mostly yellows. She must have been in the process of creating new growth on the waterfall because only one side was finished.

"How long have you been there?" A startled Donald demanded.

"I hope you do not mean to imply your poor perception skills have something to do with me,"

Oh how irritating it can be when the enemy has a point. None of them had been very vigilant. The Nobody of Belle walked across the shallow waterfall. With each step bright green curtains of moss and flowing algae draped over the edge. As she came down the other side thick vines and large leaves clustered at her feet to create steps where there previously had been none.

"So, it seems the cavalry has found me. Oh, whatever shall I do?" Brylissa said flatly. She sighed. "I suppose the duty falls to me to make sure you do not become a further nuisance to our plans."

"Ha! I think we all know you can't try to do us in." Sora said. "If anything bad happens to us that could mess up all kinds of future events, even things that were once in your favor."

"Alas, that is true. As much as I would like to be rid of you before you have a chance to become a thorn in my side, I cannot. However," Brylissa took a coiled whip from its place at her hip and let it unravel. As she gripped the handle the whip itself began to change. It spiraled as it lengthened. Short but sharp thorns grew out on all sides. "Many forget just how much you can live through,"

Faster than expected Brylissa snapped her whip. The four heroes scattered, some with only inches to spare. Sora and Lea called their Keyblades. As the false princess pulled back her whip four Harvester Nobodies appeared across the waterfall. As a unit the five dashed down the falls.

Flashes of blue and yellow flickered across the sand and caps of ocean waves. A Harvester shook off the daze of a blinding Thunder spell from Donald founds itself thrown back as Goofy charged with his shield. Another got cooked well-done almost instantly by Lea. Sora began the first round of combat against Brylissa. He'd never fought against anyone who fought with a whip before. All preconceived notions about how one would use a whip fizzled out very quickly. It seemed to change direction mid-air on a whim. The arc seemed to go one way then the momentum suddenly switched and went another. Not to forget either the whip was covered in thorns. That was the detail that made how she fought made sense. Brylissa could control plants at will. The whip was made of plants. The precision of her strikes was limited only by her focus. Oh, and whatever extra juice her talisman gave her.

"I'm comin', Sora!"

Goofy dashed across the beach, head down behind his shield toward Brylissa. As he closed the distance Goofy picked up speed and made to go into his signature Tornado attack. A valiant effort that literally fell flat. The whip stopped mid-slash to snake back to Goofy wrapped around both feet then pulling. The abruptly stopped spin was quickly followed up with a cry of alarm before Goofy fell face first in the sand.

"Goofy!"

"Mine o-fay," He groaned before getting to his feet, sputtering out sand.

"That all you got!" Donald challenged.

He and Lea finished off the last Harvester together. Still connected to his old weapons Lea called a chakram to his left hand. As the Harvester leapt down on Donald with its sickle-like hands Lea threw the chakram, hitting the Nobody square in the back. Donald took advantage of it getting knocked off balance and blasted it in the face with Blizzard.

Brylissa pulled the whip back to her side. "You are right. This is too easy. But I also have no intention of drawing this out just to toy with you. Honestly, I find no pleasure in dealing with you at all. So...let's move this along."

As she'd been talking the thorns on the whip had slowly been growing longer. Brylissa brushed a hand through her hair, gently caressing the enamel rose-stemmed laurel that held part of her hair in a small bun. The talisman shimmered as it activated. Gracefully Brylissa opened her arms in an almost welcoming gesture. Only, when she did the ground began to quake. Vines writhed from the jungle like masses of pythons. Stems of flowers lengthened and thickened while the flowers seemed to mutate into much larger and dangerous versions of their otherwise lovely selves. The nearest trees creaked and groaned. The palms swayed like cobras waiting for prey to take one step closer before striking.

"Where can you go on an island where all its flora answers to me?"

The jungle attacked.


Title Translation: Respect the Land