Sora and Anne continued staring at the sky as the large insects continued flying overhead.
"How did this happen?!" Sora exclaimed
"I don't know!" Anne shouted.
"Okay, let's retrace our steps. What do we remember?" Sora said while pacing back and forth.
"Um…we were in the park." Anne said.
"Uh huh." Sora said.
"Then I opened the box-"
"The music box! YES! All we have to do is open it again and we go home!" Sora said happily.
"You're right!" Anne said.
Suddenly they both heard a loud roar making them quake in their shoes.
"Maybe not out here though." Sora said.
"Yeah." Anne said.
The two then ran off with their backpacks to a safer location. They wound up in a forest area where they sat on a log with the box in front of them and their backpacks to their sides. Cautiously, they looked at the box then back at each other twice.
"Alright, let's do this." Anne said.
"Y-yep." Sora said nervously.
Anne cautiously moved her hand to open the box until she paused.
"Here you do it." she said quickly while giving him the box.
"What?! Why me?" He questioned.
"I opened it last time!" Anne said.
"That's no excuse! You do it!" Sora said while pushing the box back to her.
"Okay, how about we both do it?" Anne suggested.
"Fine!" Sora said.
The two then put their hands on the box and nodded their heads.
"On three. One." Anne started.
"Two." Sora continued.
"Three!" they both said as they opened the box with their eyes closed...only for nothing to happen.
"Wait what?" Sora said as he opened the box again and again.
"It's not working?" Anne questioned.
"I don't-"
Sora finally noticed the gems that were previously colored were now drained of life.
"Oh boy." Sora said.
"What's wrong?" Anne asked.
"Look at this." Sora said while showing her the box.
Upon seeing the drained gems Anne widened her eyes.
"I don't understand! They weren't like this before." Anne said while grabbing the box to look at it.
"That's because "before" the box wasn't open. When we opened it we must've done something, and because of that, now we're here!" Sora said as he threw his arms up to gesture at the place they're at right now.
"Oh no! What are we gonna do now?! How are we supposed to get home? And where are the others?!" Anne exclaimed while breathing heavily.
"Okay, first calm down-"
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" Anne screamed as she got in his face.
"...And second, CALM. DOWN. Panicking will get us nowhere!" Sora said.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Anne asked.
"*sigh* my guess is, find shelter or find SOME sort civilization out here so we can find the others." Sora said.
"*sigh* alright. I'll hold onto the box." Anne said as she put it in her backpack.
"We should get going before the sun sets. At the very least we'll find some place to rest." she continued.
"Right." Sora said.
The two then threw on their backpacks and started walking; however, Sora heard a rustle in the bushes and he went to go check it out, he got close and he swore he saw a black antennae within them.
"Sora! Come on!" Anne shouted to him.
"Coming!" he shouted back as he ran from the bushes back to her.
As they were leaving, the creature appeared from the bushes to reveal it's yellow eyes and black shadow-like body as it followed slowly behind them.
Later
In a montage, Sora and Anne were traveling through a marsh area where they had to keep their backpacks overhead as they trudged through the water which made them uncomfortable as their clothes got wet. Later they were moving through the trees, which caused them to run into a few branches and get some leaves and twigs stuck in their hair. The two were able to find a small area to rest and relax...until they got chased away by a monstrous insect guarding the area.
EXTREMELY exhausted from walking from place to place, the duo start walking slowly as the sun starts to set on the world they're in.
"It's starting to get late. We have to hurry and find shelter, I do not want to be out here at night." Sora said.
"But everywhere we go there's one danger after another! I hate the outdoors." Anne said.
"Look, we just need to find someplace to rest, then we get back at it tomorrow." Sora said.
Just as he had said that, they noticed an open field far ahead of them.
"Okay, let's see if we can try here, at least for tonight." Sora said.
"Fine." Anne said, reluctantly.
And so the young teens decided to rest in that open area. Sora grabbed some leaves from the trees and laid them on the ground for bedding then he put his backpack on the edge as a pillow while Anne did the same thing. After they grabbed some sticks and started a fire for light which the two sat in front of as nighttime came upon them
The two seemed frustrated as they looked at the fire without saying a word to each other.
"I want to go home." Anne said with her legs close to her.
"Me too, but we can't, at least not yet." Sora said, making Anne scrunch her face in anger and stand up.
"This sucks! All I wanted to do was celebrate my birthday like a normal girl, and now I'm stuck here in this stupid marsh world!" Anne said angrily.
"Look I know you're frustrated-"
"OF COURSE I'M FRUSTRATED! A magical music box teleports me to another world, and now I'm trudging through dirty water, getting chased by wild animals, and getting stupid twigs in my hair! Meanwhile, our friends are out there possibly in danger, while I'm stuck here with YOU!" Anne said, making Sora shocked.
She immediately realized what she said and looked guilty then sat back down and put her face in her knees.
"That came out wrong. I'm sorry." Anne said.
"It's okay. Look, we're both just tired right now. All that's important is we get some rest and continue moving tomorrow." Sora said.
"But I don't want to keep moving, I want to go home." Anne said as she made her way to her bed.
Sora looked down to the ground on what she said, muttering, "me too."
Later that night
Sora and Anne were sleeping on their makeshift beds as the night sky turned thunderous with black clouds looming overhead.
Sora was then awakened by another rustle in the bushes ahead of him. He looked around and saw no one was there; just as he was about to go back to sleep, he heard another rustle and as he looked around again, he then saw a small black creature with yellow eyes in front of him.
He walked over to Anne and gently shook her awake.
"What is it?" she asked tiredly.
"There's something over there in the bushes." Sora said while pointing to the creature.
Anne looked towards the bushes and saw the creature.
"What is that thing?" she asked.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna check it out. Keep an eye out for more ok?" Sora said.
Anne looked at the creature again then back at him and nodded her head as he cautiously walked over to it. Once there he kneeled down to look at the creature who looked up at him.
"Uh...hi?" Sora said.
The creature said nothing back and only continued to stare at him.
"Are you lost?" Sora asked.
Yet again, it said nothing, which made Sora creeped out. More so by the fact that he feels a connection to it.
(why do I know this shadow thing?) Sora thought to himself.
Suddenly, he felt a pain in his head as he gripped it and the dreams came back to him again just as Anne started hearing more rustles and scurrying feet.
"Uh, Sora? I think we should go."Anne said while getting up and walking over to him.
"OK, just- AAAH!" Sora shouted in pain while gripping his head harder.
"Sora! What's wrong?!" Anne said as she grabbed him by his shoulders.
Then a name flashed in his head making him widen his eyes as he realized what this thing was.
"Heartless." he muttered
"What?" Anne questioned.
"HEARTLESS! GET BACK!" Sora shouted as he grabbed Anne and moved her out of the way as the Shadow creature attacked.
[insert song: Night of fate kh 1.5]
Suddenly, more of those aforementioned "Heartless" creatures sprouted from the bushes and started to surround the two as the rain started to drop causing the fire to go out, making the situation more perilous.
"What are these things?!" Anne shouted.
"Heartless!" Sora answered.
"Whatless?" Anne questioned.
"For some reason the name just clicked to me and I don't know why, but they're called heartless." Sora explained.
Anne decided to stop there and nodded her head, then went to her backpack to grab her tennis racket while Sora grabbed his wooden sword from his.
"You still have that?" Anne asked.
"It's a keepsake, I just don't know why I had it in my backpack. Unless Katie put it in there." Sora said.
"Hey, I'm not complaining, let's do this!" Anne said.
"Okay!" Sora said.
The two went to go fight the heartless, however what they quickly realized was that no matter how hard they tried to attack, their weapons would just go through them as the shadow monsters quickly put them at odds.
"Why can't I hit them?" Anne questioned.
"I don't know but we have to try something." Sora said as he tried them again.
A heartless sneaked up on Anne and knocked her to the ground allowing the others to jump all over her, which horrified Sora.
"ANNE!" he shouted as he too was knocked down.
"mmh...There's...too many...of them." Anne weakly said.
"No! Anne!" Sora shouted.
He reached out his hand for her as the heartless continued to swarm him causing him to nearly black out.
[pause]
[Insert song: dive into the heart]
Sora found himself in the void yet again the same way he was when he first came here. What was different was the floor now resembled a tile of himself with pictures of his friends near him.
(I'm here again.) he thought to himself.
He suddenly saw a scene play out before him as the setting changed to a barren landscape where an old man was on a rock pillar with twelve weapons around him while on the ground was the hooded figure, an older looking Riku, and Mickey Mouse in casual clothing.
"Twelve keys we have now. Leaving just one more!" the old man declared while summoning his weapon.
He then shot a ball of dark energy into the cloudy sky, revealing a moon shining down upon them.
"Now Sora, darkness and light's final clash!" he said.
Sora was shocked upon hearing the figure's name was identical to his. Then both his and the other Sora's eyes went wide as the old man revealed he held Kairi captive.
"Kairi!" Sora shouted
(don't do it.) Sora beggingly thought to himself.
"You require motivation." the old man said as the other Sora ran up to try and stop him.
(DON'T DO IT!) Sora shouted in his head while reaching out for her.
The old man then struck her down as she disappeared into a burst of shards.
"KAIRI!" the other Sora shouted in despair.
(music ends)
The setting changed to a white void this time. He then heard footsteps causing him to look forward and see the alternate Sora from before walking up to him.
"You're Sora right?" the other Sora asked.
"I wanted to show you more, but you're not using any of the power you have right now, I wish I could tell you everything, but now's not the right time." he said as he reached out for him.
"Be careful, we're long past the singularity point in the Unchained state, but it'll be fine." he said as his hand nearly encompassed his.
"Remember, you're not alone. Your friends are your power." he said.
Back in real time, Sora's eyes glowed blue for a short second as he threw off the heartless with a flash of light along with his new weapon in his hand.
[night of fate resumes]
He looked at it for a short second admiring the mouse keychain and blue handle along with the yellow guard and key like appearance before remembering that Anne was in danger. He ran towards heartless shouting, "get away from her!" as he sliced them off.
He kneeled down to check on her and saw that she was unconscious and that there wasn't much damage other than a few scratches and cuts. He stood up once more and turned to face the dark creatures with an angry glare in his eyes.
"Alright you little freaks, you want to play? Let's play!" Sora said.
He sliced at the heartless and this time he was able to do damage this time as each strike destroyed them. Some tried to attack Anne while she was down but Sora managed to get them before they could. Relentlessly he attacked until there were only four left; when they all jumped to attack, Sora jumped as well and did a samurai slash destroying the last heartless once he landed.
He breathed heavily while looking at his weapon again, until it disappeared in a blink of an eye. He was shocked but then he held out his hand and resummoned it, making him more shocked.
"Okay, I can get used to this right?" Sora asked himself.
He then heard Anne groan, making him dismiss his weapon. Looking around he worried about those "heartless" showing up again so he grabbed his backpack and her backpack then picked her up and ran away from the area as fast as he could.
A long while later
Anne slowly started to wake up and saw that she was in a cave with a glowing blue mushroom to light the place slightly. She also saw that Sora's jacket was on top of her being used as a blanket with her backpack next to her.
"Oh good, you're awake." Sora said while walking towards her.
"What happened?" Anne asked while grabbing her head.
"After those heartless attacked, they knocked you unconscious. I managed to take care of the rest of them and got you out of there and brought you here." Sora explained.
"Wait, you defeated the rest of them?" she asked, getting a nod in response
"How?" she questioned.
Sora then summoned his weapon again, surprising her.
"The heck is that?" she asked.
"No idea." Sora said as they both admired it.
"Can I hold it?" she asked.
Sora nodded and gave her the weapon. She looked around at the design of the weapon and felt something from it.
"This is really cool. So it's like a giant key?" she asked.
"I guess so." Sora said with a shrug of his shoulders.
The weapon then suddenly disappeared from her hand and reappeared in Sora's.
"Whoa." Anne said.
"What the?" Sora questioned.
He gave it back to Anne and it stayed in her hands for a few seconds until it disappeared again and reappeared in Sora's hand.
"It must be bound to me or something." Sora said.
"Like one of those video games where only the MC is granted certain weapons." Anne said.
"I guess so." Sora said with a smile.
Anne smiled too then looked to the ground guilty.
"Thanks for saving me back there. I-I don't know what I would've done without you." Anne said while gripping his jacket.
"That's what friends are for." Sora said.
[insert song: Missing you Kh 2.5]
Anne couldn't hold it in anymore and started crying then grabbed him in a tight hug.
"Sora! *sniff* I was so scared, I felt so helpless! I thought I was gonna…*sniff*" she sobbed.
"Hey, it's okay." Sora said while rubbing her back comfortably.
"No, it's not! What I said to you back there, I didn't mean any of it! I was just scared a-and angry a-and-"
"I know. I feel the same way too, but it's gonna be okay. We'll figure this out together, and we will find our friends and get back home." Sora said.
Anne removed herself from him and wiped her eyes.
"*sniff* Are you sure?" she asked, still teary eyed.
"Of course I am." Sora said.
She then smiled through the tears and hugged him one last time.
"Thank you, Sora." she whispered.
[music ends]
After that
Sora managed to fall asleep while Anne stayed up and looked outside. She still worried about those creatures that tried to attack which kept her awake. While she was up she decided to read the birthday card Sora got her; she went into her backpack and pulled out the envelope that was now a little wet with rain water.
She tore it open and pulled out a pink birthday card with her face drawn on there. She looked inside and found a photo of the six of them with the bottom part saying, "BFFS" The picture showed Anne and the girls along with Sora, Kairi, and Riku. Sasha had her hands on Sora and Riku's shoulders while smiling with Anne doing a peace sign; in front of them was Kairi doing a double peace sign while smiling and blushing with her eyes closed while Marcy smiled and had one of her hands in her jacket pocket.
Sora had his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner while Riku had his hands in his pockets and smirked.
She took the picture then looked at what was written on the card.
[insert song: Friends in My Heart KH 2.5]
Dear Anne, Happy 13th! I can't believe it's been 10 years since the six of us have met! I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Love, Sora.
Dear Anne, this is Kairi speaking, happy birthday! I'm so glad we met you, Marcy, and Sash! The four of us should get together for girl time, y'know eventually. Again, happy birthday girl.
Love, Kairi.
Dear Anne, It's Riku, have a great 13th! I'm not much for talking about my feelings, but I will say meeting you was the greatest thing to ever happen to us, and to me. You being a part of our lives will always make me happy and I couldn't ask for anything different.
Love, Riku.
The three of us wish you a very happy birthday from the bottom of our hearts and we wish great things for you and your family in the future. No matter what happens and no matter where we go, our hearts will bring us together again, always.
From: Sora, Kairi, and Riku.
Upon reading the card, Anne got teary-eyed again, but these weren't tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy. She smiled as they ran down her face and onto the card as she looked at the sleeping boy next to her then outside at the now clear night sky.
(I don't know what I'm gonna face in this world, but as long as I have my friends and the will to see them again, I know I'll be okay.) she thought to herself.
"Right Sora?" She asked to the sleeping boy.
"Right." She then said as looked at the picture one last time before finally deciding to go to sleep, now ready to face this new world with her friend.
[Music ends]
Next chapter: Sora, Anne, or Beast?/Best Fronds
An: please know that I am not good at making original content when I work on fanfics, so I kinda get writer's block from time to time. Which means Ch6 of Shield might take a while, MIGHT.
Other than that though I think I like how this turned out. I wanted to give Anne a more vulnerable side this chapter so that way it can help with her arc in the series moving forward. Also it dawned on me when writing this that it also worked personality wise with Anne because of her emotions and how Sora could be the one to help her calm down since he's the most calm even if he doesn't know what to do most of the time.
About the Katie thing, I want to give Sora sisters in the story, a younger sister who is two years younger and twins who are about 5 or 6; it's gonna add a lot more drama when we get to "Hopping mall" and once we reach part 3.
Also about who Sora gets together with, I cannot picture him without Kairi so I could do a Marcanne relationship with Anne and Marcy because I've seen a lot of people talking about it. It might not happen on the show, but I'll do it anyway.
Finally, I nailed down the cast for the characters. I mainly chose these guys because I wanted people who could sound like middle schoolers. When casting people in a story I'm very specific about it.
Anyways, here they are,
Sora: Ry Mckeand
Kairi: Brittany Lauda
Riku: Sean Chiplock
When we get to part 3, (whenever they release it.), I'll have more voices join the Kh cast, for now I already have Amber Lee Connors as Aqua and that's all you need to know.
That's it for now, the next chapter is the first episode finally! I cannot wait to truly get started with this story. See you guys soon!
P.S: I'll elaborate more on the unchained state next chapter because I have a theory about it that I saw on a video a few days ago.