Am I the only one constantly repeating the 2.8 trailer? Coz I can't stop replaying it! Though I'm sad I won't be able to have a nice special kingdom hearts marathon during xmas getting my hands on that game... and when school's back I'll be forced to stare at it while suffering through college.Q^Q

VIII ~ Dragon Hearts (First Visit, Part 1)

Unknown...

Stepping out of the light, a stranger in a white coat looks around the area as the portal behind them disappear behind their back. "Hm... seems like another perfect place for you to thrive." They reach into their pocket and brings out what looks like a shard, which started to glow brightly once it was completely out in the open. It continues to glow in anticipation as the stranger smiles down at it. As it flies out of their hand, the stranger watches as it flies around in the sky at the sudden freedom then sharply turns to a random direction and completely out of site.

"Collect the pieces to find Kingdom Hearts..."

Land of Dragons...

I can't say that the landing was perfect, since Donald and Sora were arguing over the control of the ship. What's worse was having to smile so much the whole time while we were attacked by heartless. I don't know how they do it but I don't think my face could last another minute smiling if it weren't for Sora's 'incredible' driving skills.

"Next time I'm driving!" Donald yells as he marches ahead of us.

Sora shrugs it off, "From what Goofy has told me? You weren't really the best at driving boats."

As the two argue, Goofy just chuckles while I just shake my head with a small smile on my face. "Is this normal?" I ask the dog, amused at the situation.

"Nah! Normally it's about how Donald keeps getting knocked out at the worst time during a battle." Goofy quickly glances over at his friend then brings hand next to his mouth and whispers, "But don't tell him I said that... it's our little secret..."

I giggle when he said that and watch as he quickly walks over to the two, who stopped and were waiting for us up ahead. "Well aren't they the weirdest." I quickly turn around and tried to summon Starlight on instinct, but it never game. "What in the..." I look down at my hand in confusion. A white cloak casually steps out of the bamboo thicket, turning to face me and reveals my keyblade in their hands.

"Now we wouldn't want to any unnecessary casualties, don't we? I mean-" She disappears then reappears at side, placing an arm around my shoulders as she continues, "you wouldn't want your sudden 'friends' to add this encounter to the list of problems they have to deal with."

"What are you talking about?" I ask as I force her off me.

She just laughs at my response. "Don't you see? Having all that weight over their shoulders, doesn't that make you the least bit feel bad for them? Saving countless of worlds at the same time regaining the memories of just one girl? That sure is something the hero of light surely can't just do all at once."

"Hero... of light?" I repeat, placing a hand over my chest as I look down at the ground in uncertainty. I know that Sora has a responsibility to uphold, and that he truly wants to help me regain my memories, but I never actually thought of how much trouble I'm causing for him. "Who are-" I turn to face the stranger only to find myself all by myself. "You...?" I didn't trust her at all, but there was something about her voice that felt so familiar at the same time... distrusting. I didn't know what to do anymore at this point. "Akari?" I jumped at the sudden touch and summoned my keyblade- this time it actually came out unlike last time.

"Hey! It's just me!" Sora exclaims defensively as he raises his hands up.

I sigh in relief and fell on my knees, surprising the boy as he bends down to my level to see what was wrong. That sudden encounter with that stranger drained a lot from me. I was so nervous that I almost wanted to collapsed at the thought of going against something other than a heartless. Sora doesn't say a word. Instead, he gets up and offers a hand. Still remembering the words', she said, I hesitantly reached out and grabbed his hand.

As Akari is pulled up to her feet, Sora quickly escorts the girl to where Donald and Goofy were waiting. She was taken by surprise when he suddenly grabs her hand but smiles and shakes her head, smiling as the two start running to their friends. Not too far away, the same cloaked stranger watches as another one with the same cloak walks to her side and follows her gaze. "I see you were successful in motivating the Purest of all hearts, am I correct?" spoke the girl in a formal manner. With a nod, the other takes her hood off (A/N: If this was the game itself, only half of her face is shown on screen.) and feels the winds to brush up against her.

"You could say that. But I think even without our interventions, he'll always find her. He's her protector after all."

Her companion scoffs at her words, "She can't depend on her protector forever. You know how she was like before her memories shattered. That girl was strong, now look at her. We need to make sure history won't repeat itself." A corridor of light appears behind them. "All of us were too dependent unlike her."

Taking one last glance over at the un-hooded girl, she turns and finishes, "Same goes for the two of you before her." Seeing that she was alone, the girl looks up at the blue sky. In her pocket, a small light emits from within as if reflecting Akari's emotions as the girl smiles brightly as they picked up the pace. "I wonder if it'll be truly different this time. What will happen to us if she is truly the last of us?"

Bamboo Grove...

As we were walking, Goofy and I caught something at the corner of our eyes. Sora and Donald notices too and stops. We lean against a rock, peeking over to see a soldier fearfully standing in front of a monster-like shadow figure.

"A heartless...?" Donald whispers.

"Let's get the jump on 'im!" Sora quickly suggests.

"Gwarsh. Maybe we should look before we leap!?" Goofy calls out, unsure of their plan. But it was too late. They were already charging straight into action before either of us had a say in this. I look over at Goofy and shrug as I ran after them.

'How come I feel like this is a normal thing?' I wondered to myself. With a loud cry, Sora and Donald charged out into open view. Instantly, the supposed heartless disappears, and pops out as a small, familiar looking lizard. It jumps into the soldier's arms as they both let out a fearful cry. We instantly came to a halt once we see the two cower at our presence.

Goofy squints his eyes then asks, "Is that Mushu?"

I tilt my head in confusion as I repeated the name in my thoughts, 'Mushu? Is he someone we know? That I knew?'

The lizard pops his head out. "That's right. I know you've better heard of me! I'm little, lethal, and legendary!"

I cross arms and eye the lizard. 'At least you know you're little. I doubt you're even either those last two things you said.'

"Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!"

Now that's something that definitely surprised me. 'How could that guy be a dragon...? He's so… so… small!?'

Sora's face brightens as he brightly calls out in recognition, "Hey Mushu! We missed you!"

"Well, you better HOPE I miss YOU, or else, you're-you're..." Mushu jaw drops in surprised once he recognizes them. Or us I should say. "... Sora! Akari! Donald! Goofy!"

"Do you know them?" the soldier questions as Mushu slivers out of his arms. 'Wait... isn't that a girl?' Now that I heard her voice and got a better look at the soldiers, I swear that HE is actually a SHE.

"Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together!" I raised an eyebrow at this as Mushu walks over to us. "Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of tight spots. 'Cause I'm a mighty dragon!" Mushu leans against Sora's foot abd looks up at the boy. "Right?"

She continues to gaze over at us with wary eyes. The boy steps back a bit, causing Mushu to fall over and glare up at the boy in displeasure. He chuckles, "Something like that." Mushu quickly gets back up on his feet. "Aw don't be like that Sora! C'mon Akari back me up here, would ya?"

Once he turns his attention to me for help, I just look at the three with unsure looks before I softly answers, "I'm sorry.. but who are you exactly?"

His tail stiffens up in the air as his jaw drops to the floor in shock. Disheartened, he slowly turns back us and walks back to the soldier with his now limp tail dragging right behind him to reflect his feelings of disappointment. "And this is the thanks I get for protecting your girl... Really appreciate it man..."

"Mushu!" Sora whines as his cheeks were suddenly flushed red. I didn't say anything about it to save him from further embarrassment and changed the subject. "And... you are?" "I'm Mulan-" she quickly stops and coughs a bit, correcting herself, "Ahem! Um, no, I-I mean..." I tilt my head again when she tries to deepen her voice. Mushu was quick to answer and raises a finger up, "Ping!"

"Mulan-Ping?" Donald asked skeptically, putting his hands on his hips and raises an eyebrow.

Mulan puffs out her chest and answers, "Just... Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou."

"You know Mushu?" Sora asks, unfazed.

'Ping' explains to us, "Mushu's one of my family's guardians." And the little guy seemed proud of it with the way he was standing.

"We didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family guardian," Goofy states in disbelief, feeling slightly guilty. I'm still not buying any of it at all.

"Yeah that's right!" Mushu clambers back onto Ping's shoulder. "And that puts you four up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here." She awkwardly smiles when he says that. "Well, guess what, kiddies? It's payback time!"

She whispers over at the lizard at the last part, "Mushu..." Mushu just shrugs it off. "Ah, they don't mind. Ain't that right?"

"Hm, sounds fair," agrees the boy beside me, earning a bewildered look from me. My thoughts screamed at the back of my mind, 'How is that fair!?'

Mushu further explains to us, "See, Ping here was just on his way to join the imperial army. We gotta go find the other recruits over at the training camp."

"Would you join us? It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you."

"Uh... but I'm not a guy," I quickly point out.

"Hm..." Mushu rubs his chin and squints his eyes. "I guess we could try and make a few adjustments..."

I didn't get what he meant by it, but the three didn't seem to like it with the way they were looking at the dragon. "Why don't I just cut my hair?" I suggest, summoning Starlight at the same time. I don't know if a keyblade can cut hair like a blade would do, but if it can destroy a heartless then I guess it can at least chop off some hair. As I raise it up and take a handful of hair in one hand, Sora quickly grabs my hand, forcing me to drop my keyblade out of shock. "No!" We were all surprised at Sora's sudden outburst, and he seemed surprised himself when he pulled away and looks down at his hand in shock.

"I was just- I didn't mean- Sigh..." the boy bows his head in defeat.

"What exactly did you mean 'fit in' anyway?" I ask, trying to change the subject again. Though, I will have to ask him later in private about that.

Mushu starts to cough a bit. "Well, um, uh, don't- don't worry about that."

"You're pretendin' to be a boy, arent ya?"

My eyes widen while both boys just stare at Goofy then at Mulan in utter silence. I was more surprised that Goofy figured it out too! I guess you really can't under estimate the simple mind a person.

"HUH?!"

"WHAT!?"

"You're a... girl!?" Sora cried out in disbelief, his voice slightly cracking.

I bit my lip to hold back from laughing. 'It was pretty obvious guys.' She fidgets under their gaze, placing her hands together and shyly smiles at the two. Completely losing the manly facade she was trying to put up and finally begins to act like the girl she truly is. She asks us in a hopeful, at the same time amused, tone, "You didn't notice?" They both shook their simultaneously.

"Uh uh!"

"Not me," Sora adds.

Mulan smiles up at Mushu. "I think it's working!"

Mushu just rolls his eyes, "I don't know-those two would fall for anything."

"I'm right here!" Sora frowns.

I shook my head and chuckled, "C'mon Sora, it was pretty obvious. I'm a girl so that's pretty much an excuse. But for Goofy to notice too? You two should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Speaking of girls... What are you about to do about Akari?" Donald points out. "We can't exactly bring her to the camp. And it's impossible to dress her up as a boy." He did have a good point.

"Wait what do you mean by impossible?" I ask and crossed my arms, insulted at Donald's words.

"Your hair is a dead give away! If Sora won't allow us to cut it to your original look, then there's no way to sneak you in!"

"My original look?"

Goofy and Sora suddenly tackle the duck to the ground for some odd reason, which earned very confused looks from me, Mushu, and Mulan. "You could stay here for a while with Khan," the soldier girl suggests, whistling for a brief moment before a black horse comes jumping out of the bamboo thicket. "I could make an excuse that I found you in one of the villages that were attacked recently and had to make you wait outside while I get permission. They'll definitely let you in if I tell them that. I'm sure of it."

I cross my arms again, not liking the idea one bit. "Play the role of a damsel in distress. I don't like the sound of it... but I guess I can go with it. Not like there's really any options open at the moment. I trust you on this Mulan, Mushu."

Nodding, Mulan looks over at her trusted steed before handing the reins over to be and makes her way toward the camp with Mushu on her shoulder. Donald and Goofy follow not long after. Unsure if he should leave, Sora looks over at me and open his mouth to say something but remains silent. I place a hand over Sora's shoulder. "Sora I'll be fine. There hasn't been a single heartless since we got here so there's no need to worry! Besides-" I summon my keyblade to make a point. "I can take care of myself! I may not have much experience, but I have a feeling that I'll be alright. Just go with Mula- I mean, Ping."

With a sigh, Sora places a hand on the back of my head and suddenly leans down so our foreheads would touch. "I do trust you but…" Sora avoids my gaze as he pulls away.

"Don't think twice in coming after us! If you feel something's off, just head to the camp. DO NOT investigate what it is."

"I will! Don't be such a worry wort."

"Your curiosity's what's worrying me. Look you may not remember, but you love exploring and can't sit in one place without checking whatever is out there. And once you spot something interesting you can't help yourself from seeing what it is. You don't need memories to have those urges to explore."

"I do not Sor-" I felt a slight pain in my head. "-a?" This weird wave of de ja vu finally shut me up. It's like we've had a conversation like this before. "Well I'm going after the others. Be careful!" I just wave a hand and sit down in confusion as Sora runs off to follow the others. 'Maybe it's some of my other memories trying to kick in? There was a lot that were blurry the first time I saw them…' Now that I think about it, ever since I've met those guys it's like my memories have been trying to piece themselves together. Or at least the memories that I have right now. Deciding it was best not to think about it anymore, I patiently sat on the rock with the horse standing there while eating grass.

That went away quickly. As I continued to sit there, I found myself impatiently tapping my foot on the floor with my arms crossed again. Finally, I said something, "You know I just don't get it." The horse lifted his head up to look at me. "What exactly is wrong with girls joining the army? I'm sure we're just as capable as boys whether it comes to fighting or other things." I stood up and started walking from side to side as I continued my rant, "It's just stupid how they think they're all that and seem important while we have to work just as hard. What's so hard about swinging a sword around? Anyone can do it!"

The horse nods in agreement. "I mean, Donald is a duck and Goofy is a dog. And they can both fight! Yet they can still join the army just because they're male as well? Mulan waltzing in there dressed as a man will definitely make things worse if they ever found out she was a girl. If only she could just walk in as a girl and try to prove her worth than none of that can happen! Right?" The horse nays and stomps his feet.

As the girl continues to converse with the horse, a shadow quickly passes through the bamboo without notice. "Men practically need us in their lives! I bet they even beg for it! We're not a bunch of weaklings. Look at horses? All they have to do is pull their weight around by carrying those soldiers into battlefield whether they want to or not. And they somehow seem more capable than girls if that's all they do!" Khan raises an eyebrow as he snorts, insulted at her words. Akari catches this and quickly apologizes, "Sorry… But you get my point." He rolls his eyes as if telling her he'll let it slide.

She slumps her shoulders and sighs, "Great… I'm talking to a horse that actually listens to what I have to say… I can't tell if I should be glad or a bit disturbed at myself for talking to a horse at all… At least no heartless has shown up during the entire conversation." As if on cue, two large heartless appear before them. Akari instantly summons starlight as Khan starts to panic behind her back. "Don't worry! I got this!" More appeared when she said that. "Uh…" Khan nervously looks down at her. "Well-" Akari gets into position and lifts her hand up at the heartless to give them a taunting gesture. "Guess it's time to prove my worth!"

Sora comes to a stop and looks back at the gate. "Is something wrong?" Mulan asks. He turns to see everyone standing not too far from where he stood. "No.. just thought I heard something." In truth, there was this sudden urge to go back to Akari. Did something happen? Could she be in trouble? Sora tried to shake these thoughts out of his head, mentally reminding himself, 'Akari's strong. I trust her. I can't let history repeat itself again.'

"Stop treating me as some sort of weakling! I can take care of myself Sora! I know you're my Protector and all, but I don't need you keeping an eye on me twenty-four seven! I have a keyblade too so don't worry about me. We have to save all worlds, remember?"

He smiles at the memory as he continues to follow the others to the camp. 'No that I think about it, she's always tried to prove that she's independent. Maybe she really is fine on her own.'

"Everything is not fine!" I dodge back just in time before the heartless could jab my head with its spear. I stumble a bit on my feet but the horse pushes me a bit with its head to keep me from falling. "Huh..? Oh thanks!" Khan nods only for him to stomp his hooves and glare, causing me turn around and block just in time as the heartless comes charging at with it's human-like part leaning towards me. I somehow was able to push it back, except it didn't seem fazed at all. "Uh oh... What now?" I gave them everything I've got. But they just keep coming! This felt like de ja vu all over again with each second that goes by, and what's worse, each time one of them takes a step forward I could feel my confidence from earlier slowly diminish.

Then there was a strange ball of light that appeared in front of me. "Take it!" I look around in confusion to notice time has stopped around me completely. "The fairies may have given you abilities that are similar to your protectors... but we will give you a power that comes from us. We are all tide together; past, present, and future. Your memories may be broken but you can wield what you have into a power of your own." An orb appears in front of me with a strange symbol on it. "Let the powers of the past guide you to your memories. When you've gathered enough, those of your present will help you evolve your power. Let us show you the true power of one of your current forms."

As I reach out of it, the orb automatically flies straight into my heart.

*Memory Form Strength Replaced - Guard Form is Obtained*

(A/N: Now I know by now that every single person has seen Nomura's teaser image of Guard form with Sora. Well with this name being on my number one list of potential forms for Akari and it being a good representation of something/someone, and I highly doubt no fan artist has ever thought of this name in the past. I was a bit wary of making an actual form since Strength was indeed a temporary unusable form from the get go. Though don't worry, Strength will appear in the near future in the story line but different.)

- This form is mainly based on brute strength and can control the elements of earth/fire to some extent. The only spell allowed to be used in this form is Reflect. When using reflect, you can either guard yourself or those in your party. (Me: I actually picture myself playing as Akari and just struggling on keeping Donald alive. And we all know how much he loves dying when we need him to heal. XD Hey you can tell me to use cure on myself, but I want to focus on using my other spells in a fight alright?)

Form Level: In this form, you level up based on the number of times Reflect is used.
Wields: 2 Keyblades
Special Abilities (this is common with almost all of Akari's forms): Can combine two keyblades when you want to. When you combine your current equipped keyblades, attacks are slow, but very heavy and hard-hitting. Depending on what keyblades you have equipped affects the status of the combined weapon.
Appearance: Akari's clothes change slightly in appearance while the color scheme changes drastically. The shirt becomes red (and black on her sides) with two intersecting straps over her chest that's also colored black with a white outline, almost resembling crisscrossed suspenders. Her pants also changes into a lightish brown color. A gold badge is in place of the belt buckle. On both sides of her pants are fluorescent red swirling pattern on her pants and a flame symbol on both knees. She dons a gold shoulder armor that covers most of her left arm, with a simple symbol of a mountain engraved on the round plate of the armor.

"Woah!" I gasp when I see my outfit's sudden change in appearance. Starlight appears and then follows another strange looking keyblade in my other hand, which sort of gave off this same feeling I got when I first saw Starlight for the first time. The name just slipped out of my mouth just like before. "Earth...shaker?" I fought off the sudden incoming tears, trying to bring my focus on the stunned heartless and tightly held both weapons as the heartless start to regain their focus. "I'll use their power! And keep my promise!" Though it wasn't clear what promise I meant, and it's even more confusing how I even knew what this strange keyblade is called in the first place.

But after everything that's happened after just waking up? I really doubt at this point if there's anything else about myself that'll surprise me anymore than meeting people that know who I am. Each time I swung my keyblade, it was slightly more difficult with the bigger one on the other hand. I pant hard and look up to see one more heartless left. "Really? Why is it always the bigger ones that are harder to knock down..." Once I lifted up both keyblades, both of them suddenly started to glow. And the next thing I knew my vision was instantly enveloped in light.

"Let their power combine with yours... let them lend you a hand again..."

*Information*

Below the Memory Gauge is another gauge. When filled up, you can combine the two keyblades for a final strike. If used in a boss fight and defeated the boss before the gauge is emptied, then you can gain bonus experience points for both the forms and Akari herself as well as gain certain special abilities.

When the light dies down, I was surprised to see very large Keyblade in my hand. It actually felt very light despite its appearance. There was a sudden urge to hold it differently. For a brief moment, I had a vision of a man holding Earthshaker and saw how he fought from behind. "This is the end!" I charge straight at the heartless as it does the same. Each time I swung, a portion of the earth would rise up in flames and strike the heartless from below to send it briefly flying up in the air. As a final blow, I jump in the air, charging energy and slam my Keyblade into the ground.

The impact creates a huge shock wave so strong it even made me lose balance once I touched the ground. The heartless fades and its heart flies up into the sky not long after. "Phew..." Khan walks over to me concerned as I stand up and wipe my forehead. "Now! How about we-" And a giant heartless appears behind us. "Ok this is just getting out of hand! How many times do I have- to..." This heartless looked different from all the rest. It's body was pure white- no face. The emblem on its chest was different as well. And before I knew it, Earthshaker suddenly separates from Starlight and appears in the hands of the strange new heartless and held it straight at me.

Two other heartless appear at it's side and I thought they were with it, but to my surprise, both were instantly taken out in one swing. The heartless(?) soon raises Earthshaker at me. I hesitated. If it took me a few hits to some of the heartless even now that I'm in my current memory form, then there's no way I can just defeat something in one swing like that. I'll die! I step back once I see the heartless start to walk closer to me. When I tried to raise up my keyblade, it just disappeared from my hands. 'Not now!' my minds screams while I panic to re-summon the weapon. It didn't. I thought I was going to have to face this thing without the keyblade.

"Uh... woah!" My word suddenly flipped around as I felt the back of my shirt being forcefully tugged upwards and found myself sitting above level. "Khan?!" He looks up at me confidently then starts running AWAY from the abnormal heartless. "Where are we going!? We have to go back!" I tried to tug at harness but it just roughly moves it head and continues galloping down the hill, over some water, and heads straight towards a gate. I look back over to see the same heartless, watching me. Although it didn't have a face, just looking back at it instantly gave me that feeling.

There was something inside me that wanted to go back while the other wanted to finally follow Sora's instructions and go after him. Khan slightly turns so that he was facing in the direction of the fence and jumps over it with ease. To my confusion, I was still in guard form. 'Maybe it takes a while to wear off?' I shrug it off to focus on heading for where the others are. With the camp now in sight and Khan picking up speed when he see's it as well, I thought for sure everything would be fine. Wrong. Several (Nightwalker) heartless appeared not too far behind us. "Don't worry Khan! I got it this time!" I said, carefully balancing myself as I attempt to stand on his back.

It was hard at first, but after having one heartless fly right past me, that somehow inadvertently got me to a proper position. Starlight appears in my hand, which made me glare at it and quickly thought, 'NOW you show up!' Each hit made some of them fly back while there were some that were destroyed, releasing a heart in the process. When Khan jumps over a random object, it would give me the chance to jump up in the air, step on top of a flying heartless as a boost and send my keyblade down like a boomerang. I caught it and land back on top of Khan. There were only a few heartless left and I could see the camp not too far away.

With the remaining magic I had left in me, I summoned Earthshaker back to combine the two keyblades together again. "This time I'll definitely finish this!" I leap into the air and swing the Keyblade downward after a gold light flashes at the weapon's tip. Immediately afterwards, massive rock formations wrapped in gold light rise from underground and damage the closest heartless. I pant, sitting back down on Khan as my clothes finally transform back to normal. The heartless finally disappear once we got close to the camp. Too... close! After all of that adrenaline that was pumped into Khan's legs from all that running, we ended up running straight inside.

"AH! Khan hold on!"

Encampment...

"Um, captain?" Sora calls over. The man turns around as Sora continues, "I was wondering if I can get permission to allow my friend into the camp. They're not here to sign up for the army but it's important for them to stay by my side." Goofy and Donald try not to laugh the moment Sora realizes what exactly he just said. Shang didn't seem to take notice with the way he asked, "And where is this friend of yours exactly?" "Sh-" There was a loud blast that was heard just near the entrance of the camp. They all turn to see Khan charging straight inside. "Woah!" Khan skids to a stop when he see's Mulan in sight, causing Akari to fly straight off in the process.

Thankfully, Sora was quick enough to catch her but they both ended up tumbling on the floor. "Ooof!" They both crash into a tent, causing the soldiers that were inside to bolt straight out in surprise. Both groan as Mulan and the others rush over to the crash site, which caused an uproar that attracted anyone that was in the camp to cautiously watch what was going on. "Ow..." Sora quickly covers Akari's mouth, bringing a finger to his mouth and points at the other side. Since they were covered with the tent cover, they were both kept hidden underneath from view.

"Guessing by the way you want me to keep quiet," she glances over to the approaching captain, "you haven't told them about me yet." "I was getting there but-" Sora was interrupted by Mulan, who carefully lifted up the cloth to check on them. There was a light pink tint on her cheeks but she quickly recovers. "Sora... Akari... you have to step out now... The captain wants a word with you..." Mulan informs the two. "Uh oh..." Sora mutters. Akari did catch the pink of Mulan's cheeks and was more focused on why. She looks up at Sora, then from side to side to see where his arms were, and finds herself holding back a scream for some odd reason.

Sora was on top of Akari in the most uncomfortable position. He hadn't noticed but she did. "Sora...? I don't mean make things awkward... but could you get off?" The moment she said it, Sora looks down at her with wide eyes and jumps off of her with a quick apology escaping his mouth, completely forgetting about the tent cover that was on top of them and exposing them both out in the open. "A girl!?" most of the men gasp at her presence. Akari looks around with a look mixed with shock and confusion as she carefully stands up on her feet. "Out of my way!" A thin men dressed in blue roughly makes his way through the crowd and bursts out, scoffing at the men as he adjusts his hat.

"Now what is all this commotion abou- A girl!?"

Akari just raises a brow at his reaction. 'Is being a girl that big of a deal?' She knew that girls weren't exactly allowed in the army, but she never expected this kind of reaction. He marches over to her and demands, "What business do you have here? Don't you know this is a place for soldiers?" "I was just-" She couldn't even start as he rants on, "You think you can just charge right in like that missy? Look at the damage you've caused!" Wincing, Akari slowly turns her head in the direction the man was pointing only for her jaw to hang at just exactly what she had done. There were tents trampled over.

Some of the injured being helped up by those that were unscathed during the event. And most of all, the gate that Khan and her just came from was in pretty bad shape. Minus the small amount of fire being put out.

'Ok may be my entrance back there was a little reckless...' I wanted to apologize for what happened, however, this guy seems to act like he's so important he just had to add a bit more salt to the wound. "Why don't you just run back to where you came from? We need strong men who's willing to go into war no matter the costs! Not some frail little- girl that can't even ride a simple minded animal." Khan and I glaced at one another then back at the man. 'Oh now he's getting it..!' I was about to step up only for the others to step in front of me. "She's with us!" Sora blurts out.

I blink in surprise at their reaction and watch as the man's face turns into a literal dark shade of red to reflect his frustration on what's happening. The captain walks over to his side and orders, "Enough Chi-Fu. I'm sure the men that saved us earlier from those monsters have a reason for this." 'Chi-Fu' deeply frowns on this, "They better! Or else a certain someone will be the reason why none of these these BOYS will ever see the light of battle!" The moment he walks off; Sora, Donald and Goofy look at me with a relief look in their eyes as I sympathetically smile at them. The captain, on the other hand, suddenly had a sudden change of attitude. Really fast.

He takes a big step in front of Mulan, catching her off guard as he glares down at her. "You better have a good reason for this soldier or else I just risk the chance of letting any single one of you to EVER face the Huns." I don't know why he's ganging up on Mulan at all. She didn't even do anything! I move past Sora as I spoke up, "Sir, it's not his fault. They were the ones that told me to stay out of the camp for a bit to talk to you about it. I shouldn't have barged in like that. I'll take full responsibility of my actions..." "I admire your honesty but just as Chi-Fu said," the captain turns to his head to the side and said in a stern voice, "this place is only for soldiers. Men who won't hesitate once to use their weapon to cut down their enemies and look fear in the eye without hesitation. You may believe you have the skills, but are you willing to end a life by your hands?"

I never really thought about it that way. Looking down at my hands, I thought back to all the heartless I just destroyed. 'Why do I have this sick feeling in my stomach... that Heartless aren't the only things that fall by the power of the keyblade?' Sora places a hand on my shoulder. Surprised, I lift my head up to see him looking at the captain with this familiar look of determination in his eyes. "There's no need to worry about any of that! Akari is just as strong as any of other soldier! Believe me, she's beaten in a couple of fights before." "Hm... Alright but she cannot step close to any of the training sections and as for you-" and goes back to Mulan. "Pack your bags." "What!?" we all yell.

"You heard me. Don't think I wasn't watching. While those three were keeping their ground, you kept swinging that sword of yours around like it was some toy. I've seen enough that you're not capable enough to fight in this army."

"B-But that would dishonor my family!"

"Would you rather dishonor my troops? You can just keep what's left of it by telling them the truth. You're not cut out for this."

"Don't make me-!"

"Now wait just a minute!" I just had to step in again. The people in this world are so frustrating to understand! "You can't just do that? We've had more experience with the heartless so of course he'd fight that way!" Donald agrees, "Yeah! Ping deserves to be here just like any other person!" "If Ping trains hard and does his best," Sora starts, "he'll get stronger in no time." "Hm..." The captain was deep in thought about this. "Just give us an assignment! We'll show you how well we can work together." "So... you want to be tested?" He seemed to like this idea. And by the looks of that arrow stuck on the upper part of that large wooden pole over to the side and soldiers below trying to climb it, it seems like he's the type of person to test out one's abilities as proof you are a capable soldier.

'Maybe this won't be so bad after all.' I was wrong. Again. "I'm staying behind!?" I exclaim after the captain finished his orders. "You'd just slow them down. You can stay in the farther test away from the rest." My eyes follow in the direction he was pointing to a tree that was extremely far from where we were. If only they say me fighting earlier, maybe his thoughts on me would be different? "Now listen here-!" Sora covers my mouth and pulls me away. "Don't worry captain! We'll make sure she stays behind!" I almost thought the boy had betrayed me if he hadn't secretly winked at me. "Mmm?" I stopped struggling to give a confused look.

Donald seemed to catch on and nudges Goofy with a short wink as well. "Yeah~! Ain't that right Goofy?" Goofy, however... "Huh? We're leaving her behind? Ain't we gonna-" Mulan grabs Goofy just in time before he said anything else that would cause the captain to be suspicious. As Sora drags me in the opposite direction while the others 'leave' the camp, he suddenly forces me behind one of the tents and dives away from view. He peeks over to check is anyone was watching us. "Sora, are you sure it's okay? I mean I don't want to cause you guys anymore trouble... Especially Mulan." She already seems like she's already in the captain's blacklist with how harsh he was acting earlier.

At first I was scared when he didn't answer me, but I ended up standing there wide eyed when he suddenly bursts out laughing. Sora grabs my hand and smiles at me, "C'mon Akari! You worry too much. You'd think I'd leave behind my best friend like that? Besides, this is the start of YOUR adventure!" I blink in surprise and didn't even notice he left my side until he called out to me, "I'll come back once the coast is clear!" I panic and checked from behind both sides of the tent to see if anyone had heard him. 'Geez Sora! If you're going to keep this a secret don't shout it out in the open like that! You really need to... stop doing that?'

My panic quickly subsided, only for me to be puzzled with my sudden strange thoughts. I cross my arms, wondering out loud, "Another case of de ja vu...? I know that he's my friend and all but... why do I feel like there are some things he's hiding from me?

As Akari steps out, a certain trio approach her from behind. "Hey girly!" Akari felt a nerve snap when she heard that. She swiftly turns around to confront whoever it was only to come face to face with a very large stomach blocking her field of vision. She looks up and is greeted with a smile. "Hello there. My name's Chien Po," the large man greets as he extends a hand to her. She shakes it, but felt slightly awkward at how friendly he was. "Nice to meet you..." Akari knew this wasn't the man who called her 'girly'. Chien Po was suddenly shoved to the side by a very... short man. "Knock it off! We're supposed to keep an eye on her not make friends with some stranger," he scowls his friend, accompanied with a punch to the gut.

'Well at least he's not disgusted that I'm a girl... Unlike that guy.' Akari's brows furrow at the memory of Chi-Fu. "Now guys this isn't a way to treat a lady!" Her eyes twitch when she felt a sudden pressure on top of her head. "Well she's just a kid so may be there are exceptions." "Who are you calling a kid!?" She takes a big step forward and sharply turns around, causing the stranger to fall in the process. "Woah calm down there! We mean you no harm." 'I highly doubt that,' Akari thinks at the back of her mind as she continues to glare down at him. He brushes himself off and introduces himself, "The name's Ling! The short, strong gorilla there is Yao! Coz he really knows how to hit when he's mad."

"Yeah- Hey!" 'Yao' tackles 'Ling' in retaliation. Words cannot describe how lost I am right now. I have a friendly giant at my side, a guy short man with a short temper, and some stick who thinks he's funny. "Uh... Are you guys really soldiers?" Things escalated quickly the moment I accidentally blurted that out for all to hear. The two stop fighting. "Of course we're soldiers!" Yao yells. Ling obnoxiously proclaims, "Only the best of the best can join the imperial army that's going to defeat the Huns!" I wanted to believe it since that captain earlier (although he is a big jerk to Mulan and the others) seemed to be a capable leader, these guys? Well...

"You wanna fight, girly?" Now I know who called me girly earlier. I lean down and glare at the man. "Bring it on!" If these guys are going to continue acting as if I'm some weakling, then the heck with it! 'I'll show them who's boss!' Not long after, we got into the most wide open area in the camp for all to watch. First match was with-of course- Yao. Even though I didn't like the guy, I couldn't bring myself to use my keyblade on him since I didn't want to injure him too much. That goes for his pride too later. I got into position and began to silently taunt him. Yao rolls up his sleeves in response. "Why you little...!"

I dodge to the side the moment a red faced Yao charges at me. When he bumps into something, I would take this chance to give him a could of hits before he could touch me. This guy was so hot headed, Yao wasn't even trying in defending himself. The battle was done long before it even began. He falls on his butt and fums, "No! I can't lose to a girl!" Feeling bad for him, I went over to Yao and offered a hand. "If it makes you feel any better... you're a pretty good fighter." This still doesn't make him regain his sense of self and just stands up and leaves. Next was Ling. One way to describe his fighting?

It's like I'm facing a chicken. "Woooooh!" This weird sound came out of his mouth when he attempts to strike a kung-fu stance with his sword, only to drop it in the process. I grimace a bit as he instantly picks it up. "Let's see how you fair with the man with light feet!" I... don't get it. I admit, Ling was a little bit more difficult to fight than his pal back there. He was able to dodge my attack more often then Yao did, and was a lot quicker at recovering too. The only time I would get the chance to hit him a few times is if he attempted to some sort of weird attack to show of his 'skills', which ends with him tripping over his own feet.

When I struck him on last time, Ling tries to raise his weapon up but loses his grip and ends up dropping it on his head. It wasn't intentional, but it actually made me laugh at him. I helped him up once the little birds finally went away from above his head. "Thanks... you're not such a bad fighter, for a girl." I didn't want to say anything else about that 'being a girl' part anymore. Finally, we have Chien Po. Honestly, I don't even know if he even wants to fight me. Besides he's too much of a nice guy to hit. So instead of fighting, we just stood there smiling while all the men watching continued to wait for something to happen.

But we didn't move an inch. It was just decided on the spot I was the winner since the poor guy got hungry. Some of the soldiers cheered while others just looked on in disgust. I smile and held my fake sword up in pride. "Hahaha!" My happy moment was cut short when I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

'Told ya she was good!'
'Alright ****! I believe you now!'

At the corner of my eyes, I swore I saw the same strange heartless from before watching me from the distance. When the pain finally went away, I turn only to see that it was gone from sight. "Akari...!" I voice calls out to me. My eyes search through the crowds for whoever called me. My mouth smiles automatically when I caught sight of a certain boy waving over at me. Taking this chance to escape, I dove straight inside a tent and went out on the other end to run after Sora. The moment I was in front of him, I felt a light slap on my shoulder. "See? Told them you could fight!" I didn't understand at first until he points out to the crowd of soldiers.

I follow where he was pointing and spot the captain, who close his eyes and slightly smirked. "Let's go before anyone notices you're gone!" Sora grabs my hand and I soon found myself running out if the camp and straight towards where the others were waiting for us.

Checkpoint...

"Ok I lost the star shard... but at least I didn't break anything." Jade didn't want to admit it, but she knew the moment she mindlessly took the star shard and used it right in the middle of Yen Sid's instructions... she messed up. Big time. She looks around the area, spotting a set of gates near a beautiful waterfall and stream. "Where was I supposed to be again? Ah I'll just ask!" Not caring at this point after suffering a long excruciating ride with possibly the worst transportation in the entire universe.

Encampment...

Not long after deciding to 'let fate' guide her as Master Yen Sid taught her, Jade soon finds herself standing before some sort of camp. "Hm... these guys can't be that stupid to not know where I am." The moment she decided it was fine to waltz in, like she always does when she sees nobody was a threat (except to themselves), Jade wanders straight inside. "Not another one!" A voice groans amongst the group of soldiers that actually noticed her presence. "Right back at ya buddy..." Jade sneers. "You there!" Rolling her eyes, Jade turns to face the person only to finds Choco in her face.

"Is THIS disgusting abomination yours?" Jade jaw drops while Choco looks at the man, both insulted and disgusted. The moment Akari left with Sora to start helping out Mulan with her task to prove herself to both Shang and the army, Choco fell from the sky when a door briefly appeared and was tossed out from whoever it was on the other side. She grabs Choco, yelling at Chi-Fu, "Well you aren't so good looking either buddy!" She knew that finding the star shard and figure out what world she's in was her top priority at first. Now, it's to make one man take back what he just said to the innocent bundle of feathers.

Atlantica...

As soon as Aura arrived in the underwater world, she just looked on with a blank stare and went back through the portal. "Nope! Never again!"

Beast's Castle...

"Ok I should be in the first place where- Finally!" Aura steps out in relief once she see's the dark, gloomy castle. "Now finding the shard is the problem..." She had it all planned out at first on how to contain it as Master Yen Sid instructed and where to wait for when the Purest of all Hearts comes looking for it. There's just one tiny problem... "How can I go in without being spotted exactly...?" She learned enough about the world prior. With most of the residences in this world being the literal furniture of the beast inside, she had no idea how to get past all of that.

A dark figure appears behind her back. "C'mon... why not let me out already..." the dark figure whispers into her ear. In response, Aura instantly casts a Thunder spell on it. "No. You'll never see the light of day again.

To Be Continued

~After Story~

"Say, how was light born?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Master it's just... the Foretellers have been so focused on gathering Light that they've forgotten the more important things."
"And what might that be?"
"Master please be honest with me... what's this about a keyblade war?"