A World of Black and White, plus Skeletons
The sun was floating high above the sky, as Sora and his friends traveled down a large trolly way down the tracks. To his left and right were grassy plains as far as the eye could see. Cows were eating, chickens running around, a few pedestrians enjoying the sunny sky. Everything seemed to be alive, trees, flowers, all of it was singing and dancing to one another. The atmosphere almost sounded as if music was playing in the background the whole time.
Everything about this place had almost a musical gleem to it, bouncy, fun, exciting. It just made one want to dance the entire time.
Sora held control of the jolly cart wheel as he moved around. Donald and Goofy right behind him looking out into the distance. Goofy was particularly enjoying ringing the bell. All in all, this memory seemed to be a pleasant one, if nothing else.
Turning to his friends Sora started to get in with the tune of this world, doing a bit of a jig and began to smile only to stop when he saw something different.
"You guys are different!" Sora pointed out
It was true, Donald and Goofy where different, for one thing they were all in black and white. Not only that there clothes were different, gone were the stylish baggy looking outfits of the royal court. Instead they had much simpler looking outfits. Even their faces were different, their eyes were now nothing more than tiny dots, and for some reason Donald beak was longer.
"So are you," Donald pointed out.
Sora looked at his own reflection via the trolly silver metal. His face was completely different, his eyes were now just black pupils and his gloves were a bulky white.
"What is this place?" Sora asked looking around, "And why do I look like this?"
"Remember, world order, Sora," Goofy pointed out, "Sometimes we gotta blend in, remember?"
Sora paused to think, "Oh yeah, like in Atlantica and Halloween Town."
"Exactly!"
Once that was settled Sora went back to the carts wheel and continued to pilot his way through the tracks. In his ear, he could hear the sound of playful music echoing all around him. It was quite catchy music at that, with a sort of upward swing to it that made it quite alluring.
"I really like this world," Sora snickered looking around, letting the wonder of the place wash over him "Wonder why everything is black and white, though."
Donald shrugged, "Who knows."
"Too bad too, I bet the place would look so beautiful in color," Soa said, becoming a bit glossy eyed as he looked out into the horizon, "Seems a bit peaceful."
"Wait a minute," Donald started tapping his webbed feet, "This is supposed to be a memory, but what memory is this?"
"What did he say?" Sora asked rubbing his ear, "Donald you sound harder to hear then normal"
"What! Why you DKSGKLSGLKMAKLMG!"
Goofy rubbed his ears, "I think he wondered who's memories these were."
"Oooooooh...No idea."
Donald just screeched again angrily.
"Well, they aren't mine." Sora said looking around the place as the jolly cart kept going, "I think I would have remembered if everything had been black and white."
"But I do like how chipper everyone is." Goofy added, "Seems almost familiar in a way."
Sora nodded, "Yeah, it kinda reminds of that song you guys taught me remember?"
Donald and Goofy looked at one another and smiled. Sora smiled right back and looked out into the horizon, feeling the music really start to get to him now as he began to sing along with the rhythm of the world.
Sora
Smile Darn Ya Smile
You know this whole world is a great world after all.
Smile Darn Ya Smile.
Goofy
And watch as lady luck gives you a call
Sora
Things are never black as they are painted
Time for you and joy to get acquainted
Make life worthwhile
Come on and Smile, Darn Ya Smile.
The music continued to play in the background, it was strange but Sora enjoyed dancing to it, it gave the place a playful atmosphere as he and his companions continued down the tracks. They continued to go on their way unsure just what they were looking for. No sign of Riku or King Mickey anywhere, just more animals and dancing flowers everywhere.
"Everything here is alive," Sora commented as he continued to look out in the distance, "It's so weird."
"What's wrong with weird kid" Things paused for a moment as Bill appeared behind Sora. Donald and Goofy were too distracted to notice what was going on. "Wish more worlds were like this honestly...Sadly you've seen enough to know how mundane things can get"
Sora shook his head, "I don't think so Bill, everything can have a beauty to it if you just look hard enough"
"Kid I got this big old eye, believe me I've looked, oop friends coming" With that Bill vanished returning Sora to his friends.
"Oh hey Goofy" Sora said looking out at the scenery again, "What do you think, is it weird"
"Not really," Goofy said, "Back home, a lot of things we have are alive, flowers, sun, grass"
"Things haven't been like that in years," Donald replied.
Goofy tapped his forehead trying to think, "Well...Uh…Hmm."
"Well, guess it doesn't matter right? These are our memories. So that just means that maybe one day one of us knew of a place where everything talk and music played all the time?"
"Makes sense to me."
Donald frowned, "Gee, that's accepting of you!"
"Come on. Donald. Relax," Sora said leaning against the carts railings, "This place actually seems kinda nice, I don't remember...But it seems nice."
Sora took a deep sigh as he looked at the black and white fields. It was nice that there were no Heartless around and that there were actual people here. He wished he could just live here, rolling around the fields, enjoying the silliness of it all.
So tranquil.
So peaceful.
"Hey….Hey….Over here!"
Sora blinked as he heard the sound, like the coo of a dove. Looking around he saw someone running towards the cart waving towards them frantically. A young girl, with light hair, and very simple dress, running desperately to catch up.
"Hey!" She shouted.
Sora quickly bolted up, "Don't worry, I will try to stop it!"
He looked for the break of the thing and quickly pulled it as fast as he could.
The cart came to a complete halt. The jolt was harsh and quick, causing Donald and Goofy to fumble on there feet and land slap dab on the ace. The young woman managed to catch up to them, she looked exhausted but smiled as she looked up at Sora who was instantly taken aback by her.
She seemed cute.
Sora smiled, "H-Hi, um...Who are you?"
"Namine?"
"Namine, huh? Well, I'm Sora," Sora helped her up.
Music began to swell up again as Sora gave a polite gentlemanly bow and Namine a nod.
Namine
Good morning to you
Sora
Good morning to you
Namine
Good morning dear Sora.
I'm glad to see you
Sora
Shooby dooby doo.
Sora rings the bell, "Let's go."
The cart continues on the track now, music building up, Sora compelled to continue to sing the song. Only to his surprise, Namine begins it for him.
Namine
Smile, darn ya smile.
Sora
You know this whole world is a great world after all
Namine
Smile, darn ya smile
Sora
And watch as lady luck gives you a call
Things aren't black and white as they are painted!
Do do do dod dod do dod doooo dooo
Sora just starts humming now.
Smile, darn ya smile!
"Ta da!" Sora bows.
Namine claps, "Good job."
"Nice singing yourself," Sora chuckled, "This place really brings out ….Well, I'm not sure."
"It's a real silly symphony," Namine giggled.
The music began to die down a bit now, allowing for a moment of calm from the non stop singing and dancing that had been occuring. This allowed for everyone to get their bearings and for Sora to really wonder just who this newcomer to their little group was. She seemed quite nice from the onset, yet something in his heart was feeling strange. Not in a bad way, but in a fuzzy way. He quickly put those thoughts out of his head.
He was only allowed to feel that way around Kairi.
"So um, Namine, what brings you here?" Sora asked trying to hide the fact that he and his friends weren't even from around these parts.
"Oh, I wanted to catch the trolley so I can head to the lake."
"Oh, cool…" Sora rubbed the back of his head in awkwardness, "Why the lake?"
"It's where I like to draw."
"You draw?"
"Yeah…." Sora was noticing that Namine was holding a pad the whole time, "It's a bit of a hobby of mine."
"Cool!"
Sora didn't know what was going on. His eyes were becoming a bit loopy as his heart began to flutter. It was so strange, he had already met this person and yet there was something already alluring about her. Perhaps it was just his way of befriending people quickly, a trait Riku once told him was both annoying and endearing at the same time. His mother just said he was just good at it.
"Um, Sora?" Donald muttered, taking his hand and dragging him to the back of the cart, "Can we have a word?"
"What?"
"A word?"
"Pardon?"
"A WORD! A WORD! WE WON'T A WORD!"
Sora rubbed his ear, "Sorry Donald, you are reeeeally, hard to understand in this world right now, I can barely hear you."
"He wants to talk, Sora." Goofy finally said.
"Oh, okay? About what?"
Donald pointed to Namine, a big frown on his beak
"Namine?" Sora seemed taken aback, "Why? She seems nice."
Goofy spoke up, "It seems like it, Sora, but it seems a little suspicious we just run into her like this outta the blue. We don't even know if she's just a memory. Because I don't remember meeting anyone named Namine before."
"Me neither!" Donald added.
Sora bit his lip as he entered thought, "Well…..Me neither, but ...It's not like she seems bad. She seems really nice, let's have her tag along. Maybe she can help us find Riku and the King?"
Donald gave Goofy an unsure expression.
Goofy merely shrugged, "I don't see that much of a problem."
"Good!" Sora turns to Namine and smiles, "Namine, welcome aboard!"
-000-
The trip down the tracks was strangely quiet after Namine entered. Though they continued to see nothing but grasslands and forests. The melody in the sky continued to play, this time playing a sweet soothing song. It made Sora very sleepy as he leaned forward on the trolly looking out. He turned to see Namine, pad in hand, as she began to draw.
"Feeling inspired?" he asked.
Namine flinched and look before smiling back at him, "Yeah, a little, sometimes it comes and goes".
"Cool," Sora said, looking out again, "Wish I could draw, I wasn't that good at it. My mom said I should because I had such a wild imagination."
"Oh really?" Namine raised an eyebrow and walked a bit closer to him, "Like what? Perhaps I could bring your imagination to life?"
Sora chuckled shaking his head, "Oh...Well, can you imagine a dragon with a dog's body and bird feet?"
"Weird draconequus, but okay."
"A what now?"
"Draconequus, a mythic beast made of mush of animals all combined together," Namine explained, "I kinda like mythology."
Sora only laughed, "Cool! It's okay, really, I was just making stuff up. It's been a while, I don't really remember much about my imagination."
"Really? Not even an imaginary friend?"
"Well I-"
Suddenly the car stopped before he could finish causing everyone to flinge forward as it came a violent halt.
Sora jumped up and began to see where he was.
He found himself and the trolley standing in the middle of a darker area of the forest. Many of the trees were leafless and black. They looked decayed. All the grass had left now leaving the land completely barren, cobwebs filled the atmosphere and their cobblestones lined all over the place. Everyone just shivered as they had arrived in this darker area of the world. Sora quickly headed to the car to get it to pick up speed but it seemed to be stuck.
"Come on, come on, work!" Sora muttered kicking the engine.
Goofy looked nervous, "Gawrsh, this place is scary!"
Sora jumped off the trolley to get a good look around, Namine following right behind him. He kept his wits about him, summoning his Keyblade and holding it tight in case anything came after him.
"What is that?" Namine asked.
"This is going to keep us safe," Sora said, his expression shiverless.
Namine kept close behind, Donald and Goofy by their side.
Sora's heart started to race the further into this part of the forest he went. The place gave him chills, like entering into a dead zone, all life being sucked out of it. The fact that everything in black and white was worse. No color made it even more lifeless. Even the animals were scary looking, black owls with large eyes, and crows hovering around over them. Black cats running about fighting with one another.
It was a real graveyard, and while Sora definitely wasn't afraid of cemeteries due to visiting them quite a bit during his younger years after his father's passing, he still felt places like this were creepy. It was almost like it was haunted. He kept his Keyblade close incase ghost or goblins appeared from out of the blue or behind the scary trees.
"Let's go back," Donald said shaking.
Sora nodded, "Yeah, I think you're right."
"Sora, look!" Namine cried out
Turning around, Sora saw ball of darkness begins to form, beady eyes forming around them. He recognized them anywhere. It was the Heartless. They zoomed around the group, rising into the air before patroding into the ground near the tombstones.
"What the-!"
Suddenly the ground bursts open as an array of bones fly around forming into human remains. Dark aura surrounds them as these new skeletons all form in a single line, all looking at Sora and his friends.
"Skeletons!" Goofy shouts.
Sora tightens his grip on his Keyblade as he gets into battle stance, "I'll take them!"
"Wait," Namine cried, "Look!"
The Skeletons all stand there in a unison line, music begins to build up around them and suddenly without warning, they skeletons begin to dance.
Left leg, left left, jump up, twist, turn...The skeletons all begin to do this little dance as the music of the world plays around them. They march in a straight line, begin to incircle Sora and his friends, and jump around.
Eventually they stop and point right at Sora, who is confused about all of this.
"Why are they pointing at me?" Sora asked.
The skeletons beat their legs on the ground.
"I still don't get it." Sora said.
"I think...I think they want you to dance," Namine suggested, pointing to their legs, "They seem like dancing skeletons."
"Well I know that, but why me?" Sora asked.
Namine shrugged, "I don't know, why do you think".
Sora tapped his chin and thought, "Well, maybe it's because they are possessed by the Heartless and the Heartless are obsessed with my Keyblade...Though still why dancing?"
"Why not dancing? This world is silly anyway, just go with it!"
"Okay," Sora took a deep breath and walked up to the skeletons, "Wanna dance? Lets dance!"
The skeletons continue with there routine and begin to bounce around Sora, forming a circle as they skipped to the beat of the music. All he could was be confused and unsure of himself, was he supposed to join in along with them? Follow their step? He tried tapping his foot to find his own rhythm to it as the Keyblade wielder began to dance.
Left foot, right foot, slide to the right, slide to the left, shake, repeat.
Sora did his best to keep up with the dancing Skeletons mimicking there moves as best he could. They were far better dancers than he was but he was definitely quick on his feat. He also started seeing Namine drawing something on her pad of paper. Was she being inspired now of all times?
"Good dancing, Sora!" Goofy called out.
Sora was running out of breath, "Yeah, but how do I stop it?"
"Look!" Donald cried out.
Sora saw the skeletons as they began to glow a dark aura again. They suddenly begin to crumble as the dark Heartless blobs emerged again.
Quickly taking his blade, Soa lept in the air and stuck them down in one swell swoop.
Namine eyes widened as she began to clap excitedly, "Oh wow, that was epic!" she said, sounding excited.
"Thanks," Sora sighed getting to his knees, "The dancing was a real workout."
"Wonder why those Heartless appeared in the first place?" Donald asked.
"Who knows."
Goofy then rubbed his head, "You know, I remember a while back the King dealing with dancing skeletons back in the day. He told me about a long time ago."
"Really?" Sora asked, "Well, what happened?"
"Not sure."
Sora frowned, "Well, come on, let's get going."
"Hey look, the trolley"
The trolley started to rev up again, signaling that it was ready to make travel. Sora beamed as he ran up to the cart, hoping to get out of this horrible place as soon as he possibly could. Donald, Goofy and Namine also joined him, as the group headed off from the graveyard.
Sora made sure all was well before going up to Namine, looking over her shoulder he could her pad. A image was drawn, one of Sora and confronting the dancing skeletons with his own dance moves.
"Nice," Sora smiled.
Namine jumped back and blushed, "Oh...Thank you, I call it 'Sora does the Skeleton Dance.'"
"I like it," Sora said cheerfully, "You're a good artist, Namine. Maybe you can paint me doing more awesome things later?"
Donald just groaned
Namine giggled, "I think I can manage that."
Sora beamed as he looked forward, back to searching for his friends.
