Title: Crossed Trails( 4 / ? )
Author name: Ari Powwel
Author email: eight_muses@hotmail.com
Spoilers: Kingdom Hearts (duh! lol)
Summary: Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. Sora and company failed to mention all the different people they met on their quest . . .
Random quotes from this chapter:
     'Leon? You in there? Let's go already!'
     'I remember being in my room . . .'
     If he were here because he was the Keyblade master, that would mean that Kairi and Riku wouldn't have a purpose to be here.
     They could be dead!
     Pity he'd moved it.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by various publishers including but not limited to Disney Interactive and Square Co., Ltd. The characters Sara, Lara, Lia, and Simone are owned by their various creators: Ari, Sue, Kaylee, and Rocky. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Ari hates describing characters. Ari thinks they take up too much space and effort. Ari enjoys referring to herself in the third person . . .
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Chaper 4: Fight

Goofy stared into the sky, looking happily over the distant stars. Then, unfortunately, he noticed something that cut his short-lived happiness off. 'Look, a star's goin' out!' he pointed at the star. The star in question dimmed, then it's light went out altogether.

'Come on,' Donald  said, starting off again. 'Let's hurry.' He didn't notice that Pluto crept into a nearby alley. 'Where's that key . . .' he muttered to himself.

'Hey, ya know, maybe we ought to go find Leon,' Goofy said to him, then stopped, seeing Pluto walking off. 'Uh, Donald, ya know, I betcha that . . .'

'Aww, what do you know, ya big palooka?' Donald continued on.

'What do I know?' Goofy asked himself. 'Hmm . . . come on, Pluto!'

*        *        *

Sora felt something touch his face. It was warm and wet . . . had he passed out? He was reminded of when he was sick and he'd have a wet washcloth over his face . . .

Sora opened his eyes slowly. There was a yellow dog standing in front of him, wagging its tail happily. 'What a dream . . .' Sora said, prompting the dog to slam its front paws into his chest. The impact was real enough, 'This isn't a dream!' He climbed to his feet, wiping his face of doggie-drool. The dog ran away from him, presumably out of the alley. 'Hey!' He looked around, seeing an alleyway. There were several crates near him, and the ground over his feet was made of cobblestones. This sure isn't my island . . . Sora followed the dog out of the alley, looking around him.

He was standing between two buildings. In front of him and a bit to the left was a flight of steps, leading to an open square. Several people walked around, none of who looked the least bit familiar. 'This is totally weird . . . I'm in another world!' Sora said to himself. He gazed around the square again, then walked into the building on his left, hoping that since it was the main building in the area, it would be the most helpful.

Inside, a blonde man stood behind the counter. He was wearing a pair of blue pants and a white shirt; a pair of goggles perched on his head. A brown . . . thing was wrapped around his waist; Sora wasn't quite sure what it was for. He turned toward Sora as the boy entered. 'Hey there, how can I . . .' he stopped. 'Aww, it's only a kid.'

'I'm not a kid! And the name's Sora!'

'Okay, okay, simmer down. So, why the long face, Sora? You lost or somethin'?'

'No!' Sora immediately protested, then stopped. 'Well . . . maybe. Where are we?'

'Huh?'

Sora sighed, then launched into his story, from his dream to the raft, from the storm to the fight, ending with waking up in the alley outside. The man listened quietly for the most part, interjecting questions sometimes.

'Traverse Town,' Sora mused. 'So, gramps, is this really another world?'

'Don't call me gramps! The name's Cid!' the man said, a bit irritated. 'Anyway . . . not sure what you're talkin' about, but this sure ain't your island.'

'Guess I'd better start looking for Riku and Kairi.' Sora said, a little bit disheartened. He'd ended up here, but where had they ended up? It was entirely possible they'd ended up on some place where the people weren't as nice . . . Sora shuddered, thinking about it.

'Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing. If you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I'll look out for you.' Cid said, something in-between his teeth moving up and down as he spoke. It was rather amusing . . . Sora left the shop before he broke out in laughter.

He'd learned from Cid that Traverse Town was broken down into three districts. He scaled a set of steps to the right of the Accessory Shop, then turned left to another flight. At the top of those, he turned right, seeing the huge doors he'd been told about. 'There are a lot of Heartless in the Second and Third Districts,' Cid had told him. 'You'd do well to stay out of them.'

Sora stopped in front of the doors. 'But I can't stay out. Kairi and Riku could be in there. And who knows if they'd make it out?' He pushed through, dread growing slightly.

A man ran past him, staring behind him in horror at something Sora couldn't see. He tripped, landing on his back, and Sora saw what he was staring at.

It was a weird figure, a sort of . . . Soldier? It had a silver helmet with a curl on the top, a black spiral insignified on one side. Inside the helmet, two yellow eyes glowed at the man. Under the helmet, a dark blue suit encased its body, a crest on its chest. The crest was a bit like a black heart, outlined in red. The bottom lines of the heart, instead of coming to a point, sloped outwards and then formed a set of three points. One pointed down, and the other two to opposite sides. Its feet were almost as long as its body, the tips curling at sharp turns. Its clawed hands bore gloves of the same dark blue, ending in red, as if showing exactly how cruel its claws were.

A glowing crystal appeared above the man . . . his heart? The soldier (a voice had named it as that; how, Sora wasn't sure) immediately pounced on it, thrusting it into its helmet. The man's body faded away, leaving a shadow in its wake. The soldier turned its gaze on Sora, it's eyes seeming . . . greedy, somehow. Sora fumbled a moment, drawing his Keyblade, but the soldier merely disappeared, leaving Sora to be surrounded by a circle of shadows. Sora gripped his Keyblade firmly, feeling no regret as he hacked his way through them.

Once they were gone, Sora got a better look at his surroundings. It was obvious at once the Second District was divided -- a small courtyard was below him, and a concrete walkway surrounded the upper level of the District. He looked to his left, seeing a sign proclaiming the Hotel. Maybe . . . they're in there, Sora thought, entering.

As the doors shut behind him, the doors to the Second District opened again, allowing Donald and Goofy entrance. Goofy looked around the district, 'Doesn't look like he's here.'

'Keep looking!' said Donald, striding past him.

Sora walked through the halls of the hotel, meeting random groups of . . . the creatures as he went. He quickly saw that there was no-one to be seen, and escaped into the night air. He didn't see the two figures that entered the hotel after him, nor the lone one that snuck after them.

Sora climbed the stairs to his left, sighing when more creatures appeared. He disposed of them quickly, entering the building on his right. As the doors closed behind him, Donald and Goofy walked out of the hotel, Donald obviously irritated.

Sora looked around. The shop was . . . yellow, to say the least. Several walls separated the shop into smaller areas, though they still weren't completely apart. He took a couple of steps into the shop, letting out a groan as more creatures appear. He dashed through the shop, a bit tired of fighting for the moment. He shut the doors behind him, sighing as he slid down the door. All these things wanted to kill him, he understood that, but . . . why? What had he done to get them to chase him?

But Kairi and Riku were still out there. And he couldn't worry about this until he'd found them. He stood again, ready, and looked around. There wasn't anywhere to go . . . he peered over the edge of where he stood, seeing the stones below. He sat on the edge and jumped down, hearing the sounds of the creatures appearing behind him. The Keyblade flashed brightly, and Sora struck them down quickly. He walked into the main square, letting out an annoyed noise as even more of the creatures appeared.

After defeating them, Sora dashed into a side alleyway, pleased when only a couple shadows appeared in front of him.

Donald and Goofy exited the shop, stepping to where Sora had sat only minutes before. 'Where is he?!' Donald quacked impatiently.

'Leeeeeeooooonnnnnnn!' Goofy called, his shout echoing around the square and through the alley to the entrance to the Third District, which was just swinging shut.

'This is gonna be harder than I thought,' mumbled Donald.

Sora immediately noticed that the Third District was different from the Second District. A small flight of steps to his right led down to the wide, open square, brightly lit by a -- a shrine of some sort, of two dogs, staring at each other. A small, vacant house stood to his left, lights dark. Sora jumped into the square, readying himself for any threat that should pop up.

After taking care of a few groups of the creatures, Sora was free to explore the district in its entirety, but no sign of neither Kairi nor Riku presented itself. He noticed another set of doors, like the ones leading from the First District to the Second, but they wouldn't open. Sighing, he made his way back through the Second District, to the First, and finally back to the Accessory Shop.

'Still haven't found them?' Cid asked, but Sora's glum expression was more than enough to answer the question. 'Keep your chin up. Take another look around town.'

'I guess so,' Sora said, heading back outside. He had just started to scan around the main area when --

'They'll come at you out of nowhere.' Sora turned toward the voice. A man stepped out from behind the corner of the Accessory Shop, brown hair settling by his shoulders, blue eyes studying Sora closely. He wore a white shirt, covered by a short-sleeved black jacket, a red 'cross' on the sleeve. The upper point was in the form of a lion's head, and the man wore a silver necklace with the lioncross on it. His hands were covered with black gloves, and he wore several belts over his black pants. Three straps encircled his forearm, Sora wondered why.

'Who are you?' Sora asked.

The man disregarded his question; Sora was reminded of the hooded man in the Secret Place. 'And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade. But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?' He seemed to be talking to himself, now.

'Hey, what's that supposed to mean?' Sora was getting a bit tired of being referred to as a kid.

'Never mind,' the man said, eyes hardening. 'Now, let me see that Keyblade.'

'What?' Sora was startled. He crouched down, tightening his grip. 'There's no way you're getting this!'

The man pulled out his own sword, more like a gun with a straight handle. A lion's head emblem dangled from a chain on the end. 'Alright, then, have it your way.'

Sora lunged at him, swinging the Keyblade once, twice -- the man blocked him twice, but missed the third. Sora sprung back, expecting the man to attack him, but he lifted his blade, saying something Sora couldn't hear. Sora ran at him, letting out a yell when something exploded out of the end of the blade. He jumped, barely dodging it, and chained a barrage of attacks on him, jumping away again when the man swung at him.

Sora felt himself slowing as the battle wore on, getting hit by the explosion once. He quickly made up his mind never to do that again . . . he dodged the blast and set on striking the man, surprised when he kneeled down. He stopped, too, exhausted. 'Now . . . you're . . . gonna . . . you're gonna . . .' he passed out.

A girl walked up to the man where he kneeled. 'Aww, you're slipping, Leon!' she said, looking at the boy.

'I went easy on him.' Yuffie rolled her eyes and smiled, knowing he'd say that. 'Looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse.' Leon said, standing. He looked up at the top of the Accessory Shop, noticing a figure ducking out of view. It was clothed completely in black, and a moment later, he wasn't sure if he'd seen it or not. He continued staring at the spot, willing something to appear. Something did: Yuffie's hand.

'Leon? You in there? Let's go already!'

Donald and Goofy walked down an alleyway behind the hotel, still looking for Leon. 'Gawrsh, there's nobody here. Sure is spooky!' Goofy said.

'Aww, phooey. I'm not scared,' Donald told him, continuing on, unaware of the woman behind him. She leaned forward and tapped his shoulder, prompting him to loose a loud squawk, jumping about a mile. He turned, as did Goofy, seeing a tall (well, to Donald, anyways) brunette woman, wearing a pink button-down halter dress. A pink bow pulled her hair back from her face, and light brown boots enclosed her feet. A light purple belt wrapped around her waist, and there was a black ribbon tied in a bow around her neck, as well as several silver bracelets on her wrist. Her green eyes showed her amusement, as she looked between the two.

'Excuse me. Did the king send you?' Aerith asked them.

'Come on, lazy bum. Wake up!' Sora opened his eyes slowly, still groggy. He blinked them a few times, not sure if what he was seeing was real, then sat up. Kairi stood in front of him, hands on her hips. 'You okay?' she asked.

'I guess . . .' Sora answered, rubbing his head.

'Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade.'

'I'm so glad you're okay, Kairi.'

'Kairi? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffie!' Sora shook his head, and a bright flash of light passed his eyes. He looked at Kairi again, but she wasn't Kairi anymore.

Yuffie had short, dark hair, held off her face by a white headband. She wore a dark green tube top, showing her pale stomach. Her shirt (if it could even be called that) had two dark blue straps over her shoulders, and a yellow scarf was wrapped around her neck. Something black served as sleeves from the elbow down, and were partially covered by a pair of gloves, a carpenter's brown colour. Her short khaki shorts had a belt of the same blue as her shirt straps, and her legs were covered by a pair of cream leggings, ending with a pair of heavy brown boots. 'I think you might've overdone it, Squall!' she called, looking at him again.

The man from before, or Squall, as Sora supposed his name was, leaned against the doorframe. 'That's Leon,' he said.

Sora spotted his Keyblade leaning against the frame, too. Yuffie followed his gaze and sat down on the bed next to him. 'The Keyblade . . . yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that's how they were tracking you.'

'It was the only way to conceal your heart from them,' Leon took up where Yuffie had stopped. 'But it won't work for long. Still hard to believe that you, of all people, are the chosen one.' He picked up the Keyblade and swung it out to the side, where it evaporated with a trace of light. Sora almost gasped as he felt its weight materialise in his hand. 'Well,' Leon continued, 'I suppose beggars can't be choosers.'

Feeling a bit more comfortable (and knowing they wouldn't kill him . . .), Sora said, 'Why don't you start making sense! What's going on here?'

Aerith looked between Donald and Goofy before beginning. 'Okay, you know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?

'Yeah,' Donald answered.

'But they're supposed to be a secret!' Goofy clapped his hands over his mouth.

'They've been secret because they've never been connected. Until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed.'

'The Heartless?' Sora questioned, rubbing his head.

'The ones who attacked you, you remember?' Yuffie reclined on the bed a bit.

'Those without hearts,' Leon clarified. 'The darkness in people's hearts -- that's what attracts them. And there is darkness within every heart.'

Yuffie turned to Sora. 'Hey, have you heard of someone named Ansem?'

'Annn-semmm?' Goofy sounded it out slowly.

'He was studying the Heartless.' Aerith told him. 'He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report.'

'Gawrsh, uh, can we see it?' Goofy asked her.

'It's pages are scattered.'

'Scattered?' Donald interjected.

'To many worlds.'

'Oh, then maybe the king went to find 'em,' Goofy said.

'Yes,' Aerith agreed, 'those were my thoughts exactly.'

'We've gotta find him quick!' Goofy said to no-one in particular.

'Wait! First, we need that 'key'!' Donald chastised him.

'That's right. The Keyblade,' Aerith nodded.

Sora looked at his Keyblade. 'So . . . this is the key?'

'Exactly!' Yuffie grinned.

'The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. They'll keep coming after you, no matter what.' Leon told him.

'Well, I didn't ask for this!' Sora protested. He didn't want to fight the Heartless; he just wanted to find Kairi and Riku!

'The Keyblade chooses its master,' Yuffie said to him. 'And it chose you!'

'So tough luck,' Leon ended the discussion.

'How did all this happen?' Sora wondered aloud. 'I remember being in my room . . .' he stopped dead. If he were here because he was the Keyblade master, that would mean that Kairi and Riku wouldn't have a purpose to be here. They could be dead! 'Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi . . .' he uttered her name softly, feeling a sharp sadness.

'You know what? I really don't know.' With his aloof manner, Sora half expected Leon to say, 'And I really don't care.' afterwards, but he didn't.

'You know what I heard?' Yuffie asked him. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, 'I heard the Keyblade can open any locks. So next time, try using it!'

Sora got up and walked around the room a bit, finding (and using) a Save Point. He walked up to Leon again, and the man told him, 'Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you. You'd best prepare yourself.'

'Prepare myself?'

'To fight for your life. Are you ready?'

'I'm ready!' Sora answered, even though it was a rhetorical question. It was mostly to assure himself that he answered.

Leon looked over to Yuffie. 'Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. She should be there by now, with the other visitors.'

Yuffie stood, but the unmistakable sound of a Heartless appearing stopped her. 'Leon!' she shouted at his back.

Leon spun around, drawing his Gunblade as he did so. 'Yuffie, go!' he shouted. The girl ran to and threw the door open, catching Donald between the door and the wall.

'Yuffie?' Aerith asked, following her without questioning what was happening.

Sora was torn from watching what was happening in the room by Leon's shout: 'Sora, let's go!' As he turned the Soldier (for that's what Sora had recognised it as) jumped out the window, closely followed by Leon. Sora dashed after him, forgetting all about the other room.

As he landed outside, Leon told him, 'Don't bother with the small fry. Find the leader! Let's go!' He took off running. Sora followed him, but couldn't keep up, the Heartless were too thick. Slowly, he made his way to the Third District, basically running past any Heartless that appeared.

As Sora shoved open the Third District doors and vaulted over the small wall, Goofy noticed a figure on the balcony he was standing on, doing a strange, jerking dance. He tapped Donald. 'Gawrsh, are these the Heartless guys?'

'Let's go get 'em, Goofy!' Donald yelled, brandishing his staff.

A moment later, Goofy and Donald flew off the balcony with a chorus of yells. Sora looked up and tried to run, but the pair landed straight on him. Luckily, Sora managed to swing the Keyblade out from under him, or else he'd have gotten an awful cut. Pity he'd moved it.

Goofy and Donald looked at the boy they'd landed on, murmuring apologies that were cut short as they noticed what he was holding. 'The key!' they both shouted.

Any further words were cut off as a barrier erected around them. Sora had a feeling that whatever was coming, it would be bad . . .

And he was right.

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Please remember to review.

Thanks to the following reviewers!

~ rocky ~
**grins** You gutterminded freak . . . ^_^ and don't you mean, 'Unless Ryou's reading this you know what I mean'?
**snorts** Gutterminded, yet again . . . **coughhacks** Yes, well, erm . . . yea.

~ Zoshi the Confused ~
**grins** The 'tree, tree, fence, coconut, Darkside, coco – Darkside?!' was a spur-of-the-moment thing . . . I don't like Sora much ^_^ so I'm a bit mean to him . . . ^^;;; **gives Skiz lollies** Fwee. I go on vacation . . . **realises** tonight?! Oh, [censored]!!!!!! **dashes off to start packing**

Look for the next chapter ((team)) next Wednesday!!