Chapter One: An Interesting Find
"Come now little ones, it is late. You should all be asleep."
"But we're not tired yet grandma!"
"Yeah! Do we really have to go to bed now!"
"Hmm. What if I told you all a story?"
"A bedtime story? Aren't those for babies?"
"Oh shoosh, I'd like to hear a story, baby or not!"
"If I do tell you a story then you all must promise to go to sleep afterwards."
"We promise!"
"Alright then, this is a story my mother told to me when I was a little one. This is the story of our ancestress, the first Heartling."
"The first Heartling? We've heard this story before!"
"Yeah, the grand chief told us this story when we went to see her statue, remember?"
"How could I forget, he was quite… dramatic in it's telling. Well, the tale he told left out quite a few details and a lot of key characters as well as put in a few false details that didn't actually happen."
"Really, how much could he have left out?"
"How much did he change?"
"Well for starters our ancestress's tale wasn't quite as dramatic as he made it out to be. Yes, she was brave but she wasn't the fighter nor was she as talkative as the grand chief described her to be."
"She wasn't?"
"Nope, her true story was one of family and finding acceptance, of love as well as a bit of loss. And it all starts with a simple woman finding the first Heartling deep within a secret lab."
Madre sighed as she pushed aside another overflowing folder to the side out of frustration and anger, shoving her face in her palms as her mind rolled over all the details of this strange development. She wasn't sure how her stupid brother had managed to make such a thing, every other experiment had very detailed notes and mostly coherent explanations for why and how he did them. This creature on the other hand had barely anything, except for an overly detailed essay on how it was born, as well as a quickly written down letter sent to her, that she could just barely make out at first, telling her all about the 'amazing, world shattering' breakthrough he'd made with a creature he wanted her to take care of for him while he was off doing something, what he was doing exactly he didn't say… world shattering indeed.
Her emerald eyes glanced over at the chamber that held the little creature in question. The little Heartless stared back, its large amber pools holding a mixture of curiosity and fear, its antenna-like ears perked up and it played with its black and dark purple striped cat like tail, in what appeared to be anxiety, as it waited for her to do something, anything. Just by looking at this tiny Heartless, Madre could tell something was off with it instantly and it wasn't its slightly off coloration of short black fur with pretty dark purple swirls. No, it was the look it was giving her.
In all the years she had known and observed these creatures, not once had she seen a single Heartless express as much emotion and awareness as this one. In fact, she knew perfectly well normal Heartless couldn't feel emotions, they were merely soulless husks of their former selves, like the few she passed by before entering this room. Each trapped in tight little cages, seemingly asleep. This Heartless however, didn't have a former self as far as she knew, considering the essay her brother wrote about how he forced this thing into existence by somehow forcing a pair to breed. She still wasn't sure how he managed to get that to happen, considering that, for the longest time, she was pretty sure that Heartless didn't have genders and therefore couldn't have offspring… but he managed and in doing so he also managed to somehow create a Heartless that could feel emotions and presumably had its own heart. It frustrated her that he didn't go into a lot of detail on how he managed to get that to happen, just a few mere notes that said what emotions it had expressed.
Sadness, fear, pain and relief were the few it had shown so far, but he'd stated that for some reason he couldn't get it to express anymore but had deemed it mostly a success despite this in his letter he had written to her before he disappeared. Madre already knew the reason it wasn't expressing anything other than those emotions. As far as she was aware it had been locked in that chamber for most, if not all of its life and was forced to endure everything her brother did to it, of course it would only express fear and sadness. She imagined it would have been terrified of him and wanted out.
Madre stared at the odd Heartless for a few moments more before standing up out of the old office chair she had been sitting in. And in her peripheral she saw the creature jump to the back of the glass chamber, turning her gaze back to it she could see that it had curled itself up into a ball with its back pressed against the chamber's glass wall and it was shivering in fear. It was terrified of her.
Madre wasn't sure what her brother had put it through to make it afraid of almost every bit of movement someone made, but it must have been pretty bad if it reacted like this. Eying the creature warily she approached the chamber that contained it and crouched down to its level. She hesitantly gave it a friendly smile and softly waved at the creature. It stared at her for several moments, its shivering slowing to a stop.
It's amber pools filled with realization and relief as it slowly waved back. Upon realizing this person wasn't going to hurt them they uncurled themselves and cautiously made their way closer to her. Madre could just barely hear the little Heartless' strange clicks of curiosity as it pressed its paw-like hands against the transparent wall that separated them, it pressed its little face against it as well, almost as if it wanted to get closer. Its quick breath fogging the glass as it stared at her. Madre lightly tapped on the glass causing the creature to suddenly flinch and take a step back, its little body starting to quake in fear again.
"Hey, it's okay." She spoke calmly, shoving her hands in her lap to show the little creature that she wasn't going to do that again, "I'm not going to hurt you little one, it's alright."
The creature hesitated, staring at her warily before approaching the chamber's edge once again. Madre pressed her hand against the cool glass and the strange Heartless did the same, the glass warming up at the creature's touch.
"You're not like the others, are you?" Madre asked. The little Heartless merely tilted its head to the side in confusion, she didn't really expect an answer to that question, "You want me to let you out?" She asked, she wasn't too sure of the idea of letting it out of its chamber, it could just be toying with her to get her heart. But if her brother had truly managed to create a Heartless with its own heart then it shouldn't care about obtaining hers…Right?
The little Heartless perked up at the sound of that, its large amber pools lighting up with joy while also holding a bit of doubt. Madre nodded back as she stood, turning to the nearby control panel that held the key to opening the chamber and releasing the creature. Upon reaching the panel, her emerald orbs scanned the button filled surface until she found the little red button that read 'open containment' right underneath it right next to a little green button that read the opposite. With a moment's hesitation as well as a moment's doubt, she pressed the button. She could only hope she was right.
The chamber let out a sharp hiss as it slowly began to rise, the creature jumped in sudden fear and tried to press their back against the chamber's glass wall, wanting to feel the cool glass that they had always known. Only to nearly fall backwards without the transparent wall to support them. They quickly caught themselves before they hit the floor, rushing to the center of the now walless chamber. They stood there hugging their tail tightly as if it were a stuffed animal, their large amber pools scanning the dark grey metal floor that surrounded them, before shifting their gaze up to the one that freed them, searching her expression for guidance.
Madre's gaze softened as she approached the platform where the little terrified Heartless stood, she once again crouched down to their level and held out her hand, gently beconing the creature to her, "It's okay little one, come here." She told them softly.
The creature looked down at the floor, slowly shuffling to the edge of the platform. Staring at the floor warily, they cautiously reached a little paw like foot out and tapped the floor with their foot as if they were testing the water before jumping in. They suddenly flinched and jumped back, letting out a soft fear filled whimper, they shivered at the sudden cold as they looked up at the glass walls that had once contained them. Those cold glass walls… this room… it was all they had ever known, the only things that had truly supported them throughout their entire life. Now they were gone. Doubt and fear filled their little body, could they really leave this place? This room was their life, it was the only thing they had ever known. Was the world outside this room really worth it? They had never left this room before, as far as they knew they had been born in this room. Heck they rarely left this chamber, it was only when Father allowed it and that's if he was in a good mood that day. What if he came back and found that they were gone, he'd be angry… they didn't like it when he got angry...
They shifted their amber gaze back to her, whose friendly smile still shined brightly to them like a beacon. She still held her hand out, patiently waiting for them to step away from the only home they had ever known. With a silent breath, they stepped over to the platform's edge, they closed their eyes and made a leap of faith.
The floor felt cold under their little feet, they shivered as they opened their eyes and looked up at her. There was a soft warm glow surrounding her much larger frame, they could practically feel her warmth radiating off of her. Without thinking they stepped towards her wanting to get closer to all that warmth, allowing her to scoop them up into a warm hug. The little Heartless stopped shivering as the woman hugged them. It felt nice, much better than the bitter cold that filled their chamber. They smiled softly and with a little purr, the creature snuggled into her chest as she cradled them wanting to feel more of her warmth, not noticing the look of pity Madre was giving them.
For a creature that many viewed as deadly, they looked so tiny and helpless in her arms. This creature was just a child, a baby! They knew nothing of dark and light, it seemed they could care less about hearts. Heck, she was certain that the creature wasn't even aware of what it was, nor did it care. They simply wanted someone to love and accept them. Like any child would.
They needed someone to take care of them, they needed a mother and who better than her. Since it seemed her brother clearly couldn't be bothered to take care of this creature, she would. One day she'd figure out where he went, for now she was going to focus on righting her brothers wrongs.
Cradling the creature tightly, Madre stood and began to walk to the room's exit softly cooing little words of comfort to them. The creature suddenly let out a little yawn, as they nuzzled themselves deeper into her arms. Surprising the woman when she realized they had a mouth that she hadn't noticed before, since it was so well hidden and inside their little maw were wickedly sharp, jagged teeth. Which Madre couldn't help but find a bit disconcerting.
The creature cradled in her arms on the other hand purred softly, randomly sticking out a little forked tongue as they closed their eyes tiredly. The warmth was making them sleepy but they didn't mind. They liked this woman, she didn't try to hurt them, she was nothing like Father and despite the doubts they'd had before, she seemed to really like them. With her by their side, maybe they could learn to like it out there. Maybe the world outside this room wouldn't be so bad.
…0o0…
It was dark by the time Madre managed to make it back to her brother's old cabin, the only bit of illumination came from the seemingly huge moon that shone brightly overhead. The temperature had also dropped quite a bit in that time, which wasn't too surprising considering how close to winter it was. The only reason she wasn't completely freezing yet was because of the little warm, fuzzy body Madre had cradled in her arms. She was honestly surprised the creature was still asleep, considering how many times she had nearly tripped over risen roots and random stones that she didn't see because the creature blocked her view. She was almost certain the little Heartless would have woken up upon feeling her nearly fall over, but no. They remained sound asleep, softly purring all the while.
Madre stopped in front of the cabin's old door, hesitating a bit as she stared down at the sleeping creature she held nestled in her arms. Taking a breath before turning the old rusted knob and opening the old wooden door it belonged to with a sharp squeal, an old musty stench greeting her immediately before she even had the chance to walk in. Something told her, she was going to have to do quite a bit of cleaning if she planned to live here with this creature full time. Madre looked back down at the creature as she walked into the cabin, expecting the sharp squeal to have woken them up. But to her surprise they were still sound asleep, the creature must have been a very heavy sleeper.
Closing the door behind her with her foot, Madre moved her arm to turn on the light. With a soft click the once dark cabin was now filled with a bright light and only then did the little Heartless in her arms start to stirr.
A soft throaty groan escaped them as their large amber pools slid open, they winced at the sudden bright light, they shielded themselves from it and blinked as their eyes adjusted to the brightness. They didn't think a room could get so bright, the room they had spent their much of their life in had never gotten this bright.
Madre set the little Heartless down on a nearby sofa before sitting down next to them with a sigh. After a moment of sitting and relaxing, the woman looked back up at the little Heartless, who was currently looking around the living room of their new home.
Driven by curiosity, the creature climbed off the sofa and began to trot around the living room. Madre watched the creature carefully as they explored their new surroundings, sniffing curiously at everything like a curious kitten. They even attempted to chew on a few things to see if it was alive or maybe they were checking to see if it was edible. Upon seeing the creature attempt to chew on an old bottle that had been laying haphazardly on the floor, Madre stood up and made her way to the kitchen, after taking the bottle away from them of course. Figuring the creature must have been hungry.
Though she wasn't sure what her brother had been feeding them, that is, if he had been them anything at all. Could this Heartless even eat? As far as she knew, normal Heartless could sustain themselves on hearts. But this one already had a heart, they didn't need to sustain themselves on them because they already had their own. So did that mean they could eat food like any other creature? A curious coo like noise brought Madre out of her thoughts, she turned to find the little Heartless standing behind her, eyeing her curiously. Silently asking what she was doing.
Madre crouched down to the creature's level, figuring the only way to get the answer to her question was to ask the creature themself and hope they knew what she was talking about. "Are you hungry little one?" Madre asked, the creature answered the question immediately.
They nodded enthusiastically, their large amber eyes were filled with excitement while their stomach growled loudly with need. Well, guess she got her answer, she could only hope there was something in that old fridge.
The little Heartless watched happily as the woman stepped over to the fridge, their cat-like tail wagging back and forth in excitement. They were practically bouncing in place, they couldn't wait to get something in their aching stomach! They hadn't eaten a thing since Father disappeared, they wondered what she would feed them though. You know what, it didn't matter. She could feed them those dry tasteless pellets Father always fed them for all they cared, as long as it filled their stomach who cared!
Madre opened the old large coldbox and was surprised to find that, not only was it still working but it had some food in it. Hmm, it seemed her brother had thought ahead, he knew she'd come here since the cabin was so close by. She glanced over at the creature who ooed at the light coming from the coldbox, seemingly fascinated by the machine in general. Madre simply ignored the creatures ooes and awes and continued to rummage through the coldbox. After a moment, she pulled out a brown paper bag, crudely labeled with black marker. 'Feed To Heartless' it read simply. He had special food for the creature? Well, at least he fed them.
Madre brought the heavy bag to the counter, the creature hopped onto the counter as well with all the grace of a cat. Staring hungerly at the brown bag, she could see their mouth watering from where she was standing. Madre turned her attention back to the bag and pulled it open, upon doing so however she was met with a puff of brown dust and an old musty smell. An odor that was somehow worse than the one that filled the house, even the creature scrunched up their nose in disgust at the stench.
Madre hesitated before peering into the bag, it was halfway filled with little black and brown pellets that looked familiar. It looked like something she and her brother fed to their little kitten their parents had gotten them to teach them about responsibility. Had her brother really been feeding this creature nothing but old cat food? This could barely be considered food, this would not do! The little creature, who she could tell was practically starving at this point, was about to shove their paw-like hand into the bag to scoop out a handful of the pellets but Madre shut the bag before they got the chance.
"Yeah, I don't think so." She stated pulling the bag away from the counter and taking it to the nearby window, the creature whimpered desperately behind her. Begging for something, anything to eat, "Sorry little one, but I'm not going to let you eat old cat food." Madre told the creature as she opened the window and tossed the bag out for the woodland critters to eat instead, "Now, just be patient and I'll make you something ten times better than that old cat food, alright?"
The creature begrudgingly nodded and hopped off the counter, landing on their feet almost gracefully. Madre was starting to wonder if the creature had a bit of cat in them, it would explain why they had fur and paws like hands and feet, it would also explain the tail. With a soft sigh, Madre gave the little Heartless a pat on the head, to which the creature flinched slightly at her touch.
"Don't worry little one, I'll feed you soon." She reassured the creature, who slowly nodded. Their amber pools were filled with doubt and anxiety as they turned away from the woman. Their tail and antenna-like ears drooped as they made their way back out into the living room.
Madre sighed as she watched the creature go, they'd understand soon. It's better that they ate actual food rather than that dry, musty stuff they'd been forced to eat so far. Without another moment's pause, she got to work. She pulled almost everything that looked edible out of the coldbox, carefully examining each item to make sure it hadn't gone bad, she wasn't sure how long all that food had been in there.
At the moment, Madre wanted to make something quick and easy so the poor creature could get something in their stomach. There wasn't a lot, there were some eggs, a loaf of bread, a bit of cheese, some juice, half a jug of milk and not much else. Madre made a mental note to go to the nearby town and do some shopping. While it was quite late for breakfast, it would have to do. As long as it wasn't old cat food.
While Madre worked over the stove the creature continued to explore, what they presumed to be, their new home. Their ears perking up and twisting at every floorboard creak and cricket chirp. They curiously sniffed the air a couple times, taking in all the scents around them. There were so many new smells, almost too many. It was becoming overwhelming, they swore all the new overwhelming scents were making them dizzy. There were so many new sounds too. Chirps, creaks, the sound of the wind blowing outside. It all sounded so strange, yet it all sounded beautiful in a way. They loved it!
Despite their doubts before, they loved the outside. It was so much better than the gross smelling room. Here, there was no whirring of strange machinery, no odd distant screeches, no disgusting smells that wafted into their chamber and filled the room outside of it. No Father to yell at them, to test on them… to make them hurt. Father disappearing was probably the best thing to ever happen to them, despite how terrified they were before. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have shown up to bring them here! To take them away from that awful place. She was nice to them, she cared about them, even though she threw food that they guessed was meant for them out the window. But she did say she would make them something better, so they guessed it was alright.
The creature flinched as the familiar sound of their stomach growling filled the room, they could feel their stomach clench as it demanded food. Oh, they hoped she would hurry with that food. Wanting to distract themselves from their aching stomach, they stepped into one of the dark rooms that they hadn't explored yet. Giving the air a few curious sniffs as they stepped inside.
Their amber eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly, they could see just about everything in the room. There was a bed up against the wall, a big rug on the wooden floor beneath them and propped up in the corner was something they'd never seen before.
It was big, oval shaped and the interesting looking glass was surrounded by a beautifully decorated wood frame. But it wasn't the frame that they were interested in, it was the glass that it held. As the creature stared at the glass, an identical creature stared right back, the other creature's amber pools shared the same look of confusion as they did, curiously copying every movement they made. They curiously waved at the creature on the other side of the glass, who waved back the same way they did. They pressed their little paw like hands up against the strange cool glass, the creature on the other side did the same. Their ears flicked, so did the creatures. Their black and purple striped tail swayed back and forth, so did theirs. They cooed curiously at the creature, who seemed to coo right back at them, though they didn't hear them make any noise. The creature brought their face closer to the glass so that they could sniff at it, wanting to catch the scent of the creature on the other side of this… window maybe. They weren't sure.
There was suddenly a soft click and the room was filled with light, making both creatures jump in shock. They turned to see her standing in the doorway. They silently sighed in relief knowing that it was simply her and no one else. Well except for the creature on the other side of the strange window. Speaking of the creature, they pointed at them, to show her their new friend on the other side of the window.
"I see, you found a mirror." Madre chuckled, the word made the little Heartless tilt their head in confusion. A mirror? So that's what the strange window was called? The woman walked into the room and got closer to the 'mirror' so did the identical looking woman in the reflective glass. "A mirror reflects whoever is in front of it." Madre told them, crouching in front of the mirror and waving at her reflection. Oh, so did that mean the creature they could see in the glass wasn't real? The little Heartless' ears drooped sadly, they thought they were making a new friend.
"Anyway, foods ready, little one." Madre said, upon seeing the little Heartless suddenly growing sad, "You wanna go eat your food?"
The creature perked up immediately at the mention of food, forgetting all about the mirror as the painful gnawing and growling in their stomach returned with a vengeance. They nodded quickly in reply before rushing out of the room in search for the food she'd made for them. They could hear her chuckling behind them as she followed them to the kitchen. They could smell the food, it smelled amazing, much better than the old, gross, musty stench of the old 'cat food' as she called it.
The creature followed the scent to the table that sat in the center of a small dining room and wasted no time in climbing up onto one of the old chairs that let them be somewhat eye level with the plate on the wooden table. They pulled the plate closer to them and curiously sniffed at the good smelling yellow and white mush and toasted pieces of bread. They were about to scoop up some of the mush with their paw but was stopped when the woman put something on the plate.
They looked up at her in confusion, silently asking what it was and hoping this wasn't some sort of test they had to do before they were allowed to eat. Father always used to do that when it was feeding time. They had to earn their food, was it going to be the same here as well?
The woman noticed their confusion and explained, "It's a fork, you use it to eat with."
So it was normal for creatures to use these… forks? Alright if that's what was normal they would go along with it. The creature nodded in understanding and picked up the fork, fumbling with it a bit before they were actually able to pick up any of the food with it. Then they finally ate some of the mush, loudly purring in delight as they chewed a bit and swallowed. It tasted amazing! The woman was right, it was much better than the old dry pellets they were eating. This was definitely worth the little wait.
Madre smiled as she watched the creature eat happily, quietly chuckling to herself as she listened to them joyfully purr as they ate. She was happy to see they liked the food she made them, at least they weren't eating any of that old cat food. And they were glad that they seemed to like this place, which was good considering they would be staying here a while. She would bring them to her actual house, which sat outside of Daybreak Town. But if the Keyblade Wielders or the Foretellers knew of this creature's existence, they'd kill them. No matter how different they seemed to be from their Heartless cousins… no matter how much more aware they seemed to be from the others. She just didn't trust the Wielders not to hurt the little one, she didn't trust anyone outside this cabin not to want this creature for their own personal gain. A Heartless like this was unheard of, nobody even knew a creature like this could even exist. Anyone would want to take them away and experiment on them. There were so many reasons for someone to feel the need to kidnap this creature, things Madre could not and would not allow to happen. As much as she didn't want to stay in her brother's old cabin. It was what was best for the creature, she was the one who decided to take care of them, so she had to do what was best for them, whether or not she liked the idea.
This was her little one, sure they were a Heartless with the ability to feel emotions but that didn't matter. What did matter was that they were a child and they needed someone to take care of them. Yes, it would take a bit of time to officially get used to the creature being around and for this creature to get used to her as well and settle into their new home. But they'd learn as time went on, and she would learn how to be a parent, especially for such a strange child.
(A/N): This was a little something I was working on while I was busy with other stuff. Now, I should say that I've only seen a playthrough of the first game and half of the second game and I've been using the Wiki to help me with timeline shit. I've also had a friend who was helping me out as well, and her character will be appearing in later chapters. Though the updates for this story will be quite slow, cause I do have two other stories. So, if you want to see more from me, go take a look at the other two. Until next time, see you later!