Chapter 2

Light Mountain (Part 1)

The first thing Riku did was follow the Wayfinder's path. It was a power he himself could not explain, yet it took him to where he needed to go. As he ventured into the next world inside his new Gummi Ship, Riku sat back as he pressed on the auto pilot. He watched a world full of trees and a large mountain with aurora lights came into view. Riku noticed on the small computer screen inside the ship alerted him that this was his destination. Riku took a deep breath and allowed the light to guide him.

As he got out of the Gummi Ship, Riku walked into the unknown. This world he was in was not like the others he once visited. Most worlds he has seen were mostly kingdoms, or towns. But never a forest. A lifeless forest with no one in sight. Except the sound of birds and creatures doing their own business. Riku walked up ahead and heard a voice. A damning voice he wished he didn't have to hear right now. Especially when Riku's emotions were all over the place in his chest. He turned around to see the evil Ansem, standing there with his arms folded and his glowing yellow eyes locked directly at Riku.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I have heard you were out on your own. I was worried about you." said Ansem.

"You're worried because you know what's coming for you." said Riku.

"Please child. As if you and the cartoon mouse have anything specially planned to fight us. Why are you out here all alone?" asked Ansem.

"I don't have to answer you." said Riku. He ignored the man and kept walking forward.

"This world you are in is very special." said Ansem.

Riku kept walking. He didn't care for what Ansem had to say. As always, the man knew how to get into Riku's head. He would always spin things around and make Riku doubt himself. Riku didn't want to hear anything from this toxic man. This vile and wicked man who tormented him for years.

"This world is ruled by powerful spirits. I have tried in the past to poison this world with Heartless, but to no avail. The spirits in this world have seen to it that this world would be protected. But one day, a miracle happened. Something very tragic occured in this world. The spirits were very busy. I took advantage of this, and I managed to spill some of my Heartless here. To roam freely as the animals who reside here." said Ansem.

Riku stopped and turned around to face Ansem. "How would a tragedy be a miracle?" he asked.

"A boy who desperately wanted to become a man committed murder. As punishment, the Spirits turned the boy into a ferocious bear. It was during their transformation ritual that I managed to sneak in this world." said Ansem.

"Murder. How horrible." thought Riku to himself. This was a concept all too familiar to him. In the past, when he was by Maleficent's side, he met a few horrible people that were no strangers to murder and blood. There was this Captain Hook fellow who desperately wanted to kill a boy of nine or eight. Then there was Jafar, an evil sorcerer who wanted to kill the Princess of his own world. The lord of the underworld Hades, Ursula the Sea Witch and the vile Oogie Boogie were no strangers to death. Hades ruled death, the witch would craft death with her arts, and the bag of bugs came from a world where death was practically worshipped.

However, none of these people could accomplish their horrible plans. Not even the mistress of all evil Maleficent. Her prey was fast asleep, in a coffin inside the ruins of Hollow Bastion. Now the fact this world has someone who actually DID kill someone….. This truly terrified Riku. All his life, he was surrounded by peace and good fortune on Destiny Islands. Why did he wish that life away he wondered.

"I know it's only a matter of time before the Spirits realize that I have poisoned their world. But during this time, the Heartless will take as many hearts as they can. And I can finally add this world to my roster." said Ansem.

"Like that will ever happen!" cried Riku. He summoned his wing shaped Keyblade and ran towards Ansem. Before Riku could strike him, Ansem jumped high into the air and threw balls of fire at Riku.

He quickly deflected them with his Keyblade and Ansem kept throwing more fire balls. Riku kept dodging them, until a few shadow Heartless appeared on the ground. Riku ignored Ansem and tried to strike the bug like shadows out of existence.

"Where is your precious Sora now? He won't be here to save you this time." said Ansem.

"Shut up!" cried Riku as he kept attacking.

"Now that I'm in this world, I could easily attack the Spirits. All I need to do is sit back, and wait for my moment to strike." said Ansem, lifting his arms in the air. Riku ran to him, but before he could swing his Keyblade, Ansem vanished, leaving Riku alone with the Heartless.

"Blast it all!" cried Riku. He kept attacking the dark abominations as they kept multiplying on the ground. Riku kept hitting them, until he heard two voices urging him.

"Hey there! Get out of there!" cried the voice.

Riku turned around and didn't see anyone.

"Right here eh!" cried another voice.

"Forget it! Let's help him!" cried one of the voices.

All of a sudden, two large moose appeared and they charged against the Heartless with their horns. They quickly got to Riku's side and they urged him to go with them.

"Come with us! You are not safe here!" cried the lighter moose.

"Who are you guys?" asked Riku.

"I'm Rutt. And this is my brother Tuke. Now you better follow us or your dead meat kid!" cried Rutt.

The moose took Riku away and they ran away into the hills, far from the multiplying Heartless.

"Well that was close." said Rutt.

"Yeah. I thought Ansem was going to get us." said Tuke.

"You guys… know Ansem?" asked Riku, as he was catching his breath. The Moose looked at him and snorted.

"Yeah we knew Ansem. We were his summons." said Rutt.

"What? Summons?! You two?" asked Riku.

"We heard him brag about trying to come to the forest and stuff. Kid, you want to know why the Spirits are trying to keep Ansem out? It's because when he came to this world, he knocked us both out and turned us into those chain things." said Rutt.

"A heart binder." said Riku, blinking his eyes in wonder.

"Yes. We were going to be Heartless. But the Spirits protected our hearts with their power and we weren't able to turn into what Ansem wanted." said Tuke.

"So after seeing that we were useless to him, he dumped us back here, and the Spirits have been watching that guy ever since." said Rutt.

"That is until Kenai happened." said Tuke.

"To be fair, they were doing their job." said Rutt.

Riku stood up. "Kenai? Who is he?" he asked.

"The man Ansem was talking about. His name is Kenai. And yeah it's a long complicated story." said Tuke.

"But Kenai is okay now! He's one of our friends." said Rutt.

"Friend? How could someone who would commit murder be a friend?" asked Riku.

Both Rutt and Tuke exchanged looks and shook their heads. "We know what your thinking, and we barely know all the details. But Kenai is a good guy. Wait until you meet him." said Tuke.

"Meet him? No way. He's one of the reasons this world now has Heartless. The Spirits looked the other way, and look what happened." said Riku.

"They could only do so much. Kenai messed up things." said Tuke.

"And Kenai learned his lesson." said Rutt.

"I don't want to hear another word. Look guys, I'm busy right now. I have lots of things to do." said Riku.

"Like what? Going into the forest and have no idea what your doing to do?" asked Rutt.

"Why don't you go to where the lights touch the Earth? You have that thing Ansem is scared of. You know… the Key what you call it." said Tuke.

"If you want to save the world so bad, go there. Perhaps there is a way to kick the Heartless out for good." said Rutt.

Riku looked at his Keyblade and up to where the mountain was. There were aurora lights dancing in the sky. The colors and the warmth of this world…. The sinister feeling Riku had was completely gone. What type of power was this?