Kingdom Hearts FanFiction
Vagabond Hearts
Chapter Five
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Disclaimer
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Insert the usual copyright infringement denials here. For the fans, I made some minor alterations to the earlier chapters, to make them more cannon. The only really important plot point is that there are now six Elemental Hearts in the Shrine, but still eight total.
Alright, cue the theme: I'm In Over My Head =============
Hex did not even notice he and his new companions had left the caves beneath the Mana Tree until they were in the Tree itself. He had been a little nervous that he wouldn't be able to use his Fate in the battle against the Guard Armor a short while ago, since he was no longer in possession of his old combat gloves. But his new EssenceHand was as familiar to him as his old weapon, maybe more so, like he had trained with it all his life.
Summoning the power to use that Quicksilver Strike after draining all his power on Aero spells had left him very tired, however. Locke and Aurelie ended up almost carrying him from the cave, and he was near unconsciousness the entire time.
The sight of these strange, short bipedal lions called moombas had quickly brought him back to his sense, however. And the sight of the white, winged bears called moogles had nearly sent him reeling again.
Locke and Aurelie explained that moogles were a mystery throughout the Kingdoms. As they climbed through the city built in the branches of the Mana Tree, the two treasure hunters told Hex that moogles were native to many Kingdoms, a strange occurrence, considering that all Kingdoms had been separate from each other until only recently.
The moombas were native to the Mana Kingdom, and dedicated their lives to the protection of the Mana Tree. The Mana Tree, in turn, was believed in legend to be a major source of creation and life in the Kingdoms, a conduit to Kingdom Hearts itself.
By the time the three companions reached their destination, Hex had enough of his energy back to joke about how easily he was accepting all this.
They came to an open-air platform, where Hex was greeted by two more odd sights. The first was a moogle who seemed to be summoning magical effects by dancing. Light, air, and earth drifted around him as the moogle twirled and spun in an almost comical manner.
"That's Mog," Aurelie said as they approached. "He leads a group of moogles who escaped their Kingdom and came here. He single-handedly forged an alliance between his own people and the moombas, and more moogles have been arriving, ever since."
"Aren't the moombas worried that they won't be able to provide for all the refugees?" Hex asked.
"The Mana Tree will provide, man," Locke answered.
While Aurelie and Locke went to talk to Mog, presumably about the Heartless that had followed Hex here - or had he followed them? - Hex went to examine that second odd sight that had caught his attention when he had arrived on the platform.
All along the outer edge of the platform were set a series of planes and ships built of a strange, gummy material. Hex asked a moomba about them, and the moomba explained in a growling voice that the ships were in fact called Gummi Ships, and were built of a material of unknown origins called Gummi Blocks. These ships were the most common method of travel used by the growing number of travelers between Kingdoms. Hex decided that Locke had not been kidding when he said the method of travel would come as a shock. Some of the ships looked entirely comical.
Hex returned to Aurelie, Locke, and Mog. Mog was explaining the beginnings of a defense against the Heartless in a squeaking voice. When Hex walked up, Mog turned to him and smiled. "Welcome, Hex," Mog squeaked. "So the Mana Tree chose you to protect the Shrine. I think the Moombas would be pleased."
Hex was a little taken aback by how much this moogle seemed to know about what was going on, but Mog explained that he had a special connection to the Elemental Hearts, himself. "That's why the moombas trust me, see?" Mog said.
"Anyway, don't worry about us," Mog said to Locke and Aurelie. "We can hold our own against any Heartless! The Vagabond is ready, you guys can go anytime."
"Then we'll go now," Locke said. "Thanks for the help, Mog!"
"Yes, Mog, thank you!" Aurelie smiled.
"Nice meeting you, Mog," Hex said.
"Nice meeting you, Hex," Mog said, and flew away.
"So, your ship is called the Vagabond?" Hex asked as he, Locke, and Aurelie walked towards the ship.
"Yeah, kind of a weird coincidence, huh?" Aurelie responded.
"To say the least," Hex trailed off as he saw which ship was theirs. There were plenty of impressive-looking ships on this platform, and a handful of decent-looking ones. Theirs was apparently neither. Hex could find only two recognizable weapons on it, and no shielding.
"We actually lost our old one a few Kingdoms back," Locke sighed. "We bought this one on the cheap, and our friend Cid helped us out a bit with it, but I realize it still doesn't look like much..."
"Long as it gets us where we need to go, I guess," Hex shrugged.
"That's the spirit!" Aurelie said as she climbed in. "Just make sure you buckle up. It'll be a pretty rough ride if we bump into any Heartless ships."
"The Heartless have ships, too?" Hex asked nervously.
--------------------------
As it turned out, they did not encounter any Heartless ships on the trip to Traverse Town. The trip itself was actually pretty short, but it gave Hex a chance to get used to space travel. It honestly looked nothing like he expected, and was full of meteors built of random Gummi Blocks. The whole thing seemed to have been built out of wood by a child.
When they arrived at Traverse Town, Locke and Aurelie took Hex to a regular-looking building in the courtyard district of town. Coming from a true cityscape, Hex found he was not at all impressed by this quaint- looking town. There were moogles here, and stranger things. As they had entered the town gates, a trio of little duck boys had rushed past them into town. Hex had accepted this just as easily as he had accepted the moogles and moombas in the Mana Kingdom. That is to say, he just didn't take time to consider it weird.
In the house, Hex was introduced to four of Aurelie and Locke's friends. Yuffie was a cute ninja girl about his own age, and Aerith was a magic-user a year or so older. Aerith seemed to give off an aura of peace and comfort, and Hex truly felt at peace around her.
There was also a dark-haired warrior in leather, who went by the name of Leon. He admonished Aurelie when she introduced him as Squall, and wielded a weapon Hex found very interesting. Leon called it a "gunblade." There was another, older man named Cid present, as well, and Hex correctly assumed he was the Cid Locke had mentioned before.
After introductions had been made, Locke turned to Cid. "How is she?" he asked.
"Same as you left her, kid," Cid answered gruffly. "For better or for worse."
Locke nodded silently, and then left the house. "Where's he going?" Hex asked in concern. He looked out the window, but Locke had already disappeared.
"He's going to the Refuge, where Celes is resting under a permanent Stop spell," Aurelie explained.
"Wait, huh?" Hex looked at her questioningly. "What exactly happened to this friend of his, anyway?"
Before Aurelie could answer, Leon interrupted. "Look, I appreciate Locke's problem, Aurelie, but we could really use your help in finding the Keyblade Master King Mickey told us was coming."
"He's on his way, don't worry," Hex said.
Leon turned on Hex in a flash. "Do you know something?" he asked sternly.
"Only what I was told in the Shrine of Elemental Hearts, man," Hex answered.
"Leave the kid alone, Leon," Cid said quietly. "He's the EssenceFighter, he's got more important things to do then keep track of the Keyblade Master for us."
"Thank you, Cid," Aurelie said.
"Alright," Hex shook his head. "I'm sensing a whole lot of tension in this room. What exactly have you all been through?"
"It's a long story," Yuffie sighed.
"Well, if the Keyblade Master hasn't even gotten this far yet," Hex sat down in a chair near the window, "then I think we have time."
Insert the usual copyright infringement denials here. For the fans, I made some minor alterations to the earlier chapters, to make them more cannon. The only really important plot point is that there are now six Elemental Hearts in the Shrine, but still eight total.
Alright, cue the theme: I'm In Over My Head =============
Hex did not even notice he and his new companions had left the caves beneath the Mana Tree until they were in the Tree itself. He had been a little nervous that he wouldn't be able to use his Fate in the battle against the Guard Armor a short while ago, since he was no longer in possession of his old combat gloves. But his new EssenceHand was as familiar to him as his old weapon, maybe more so, like he had trained with it all his life.
Summoning the power to use that Quicksilver Strike after draining all his power on Aero spells had left him very tired, however. Locke and Aurelie ended up almost carrying him from the cave, and he was near unconsciousness the entire time.
The sight of these strange, short bipedal lions called moombas had quickly brought him back to his sense, however. And the sight of the white, winged bears called moogles had nearly sent him reeling again.
Locke and Aurelie explained that moogles were a mystery throughout the Kingdoms. As they climbed through the city built in the branches of the Mana Tree, the two treasure hunters told Hex that moogles were native to many Kingdoms, a strange occurrence, considering that all Kingdoms had been separate from each other until only recently.
The moombas were native to the Mana Kingdom, and dedicated their lives to the protection of the Mana Tree. The Mana Tree, in turn, was believed in legend to be a major source of creation and life in the Kingdoms, a conduit to Kingdom Hearts itself.
By the time the three companions reached their destination, Hex had enough of his energy back to joke about how easily he was accepting all this.
They came to an open-air platform, where Hex was greeted by two more odd sights. The first was a moogle who seemed to be summoning magical effects by dancing. Light, air, and earth drifted around him as the moogle twirled and spun in an almost comical manner.
"That's Mog," Aurelie said as they approached. "He leads a group of moogles who escaped their Kingdom and came here. He single-handedly forged an alliance between his own people and the moombas, and more moogles have been arriving, ever since."
"Aren't the moombas worried that they won't be able to provide for all the refugees?" Hex asked.
"The Mana Tree will provide, man," Locke answered.
While Aurelie and Locke went to talk to Mog, presumably about the Heartless that had followed Hex here - or had he followed them? - Hex went to examine that second odd sight that had caught his attention when he had arrived on the platform.
All along the outer edge of the platform were set a series of planes and ships built of a strange, gummy material. Hex asked a moomba about them, and the moomba explained in a growling voice that the ships were in fact called Gummi Ships, and were built of a material of unknown origins called Gummi Blocks. These ships were the most common method of travel used by the growing number of travelers between Kingdoms. Hex decided that Locke had not been kidding when he said the method of travel would come as a shock. Some of the ships looked entirely comical.
Hex returned to Aurelie, Locke, and Mog. Mog was explaining the beginnings of a defense against the Heartless in a squeaking voice. When Hex walked up, Mog turned to him and smiled. "Welcome, Hex," Mog squeaked. "So the Mana Tree chose you to protect the Shrine. I think the Moombas would be pleased."
Hex was a little taken aback by how much this moogle seemed to know about what was going on, but Mog explained that he had a special connection to the Elemental Hearts, himself. "That's why the moombas trust me, see?" Mog said.
"Anyway, don't worry about us," Mog said to Locke and Aurelie. "We can hold our own against any Heartless! The Vagabond is ready, you guys can go anytime."
"Then we'll go now," Locke said. "Thanks for the help, Mog!"
"Yes, Mog, thank you!" Aurelie smiled.
"Nice meeting you, Mog," Hex said.
"Nice meeting you, Hex," Mog said, and flew away.
"So, your ship is called the Vagabond?" Hex asked as he, Locke, and Aurelie walked towards the ship.
"Yeah, kind of a weird coincidence, huh?" Aurelie responded.
"To say the least," Hex trailed off as he saw which ship was theirs. There were plenty of impressive-looking ships on this platform, and a handful of decent-looking ones. Theirs was apparently neither. Hex could find only two recognizable weapons on it, and no shielding.
"We actually lost our old one a few Kingdoms back," Locke sighed. "We bought this one on the cheap, and our friend Cid helped us out a bit with it, but I realize it still doesn't look like much..."
"Long as it gets us where we need to go, I guess," Hex shrugged.
"That's the spirit!" Aurelie said as she climbed in. "Just make sure you buckle up. It'll be a pretty rough ride if we bump into any Heartless ships."
"The Heartless have ships, too?" Hex asked nervously.
--------------------------
As it turned out, they did not encounter any Heartless ships on the trip to Traverse Town. The trip itself was actually pretty short, but it gave Hex a chance to get used to space travel. It honestly looked nothing like he expected, and was full of meteors built of random Gummi Blocks. The whole thing seemed to have been built out of wood by a child.
When they arrived at Traverse Town, Locke and Aurelie took Hex to a regular-looking building in the courtyard district of town. Coming from a true cityscape, Hex found he was not at all impressed by this quaint- looking town. There were moogles here, and stranger things. As they had entered the town gates, a trio of little duck boys had rushed past them into town. Hex had accepted this just as easily as he had accepted the moogles and moombas in the Mana Kingdom. That is to say, he just didn't take time to consider it weird.
In the house, Hex was introduced to four of Aurelie and Locke's friends. Yuffie was a cute ninja girl about his own age, and Aerith was a magic-user a year or so older. Aerith seemed to give off an aura of peace and comfort, and Hex truly felt at peace around her.
There was also a dark-haired warrior in leather, who went by the name of Leon. He admonished Aurelie when she introduced him as Squall, and wielded a weapon Hex found very interesting. Leon called it a "gunblade." There was another, older man named Cid present, as well, and Hex correctly assumed he was the Cid Locke had mentioned before.
After introductions had been made, Locke turned to Cid. "How is she?" he asked.
"Same as you left her, kid," Cid answered gruffly. "For better or for worse."
Locke nodded silently, and then left the house. "Where's he going?" Hex asked in concern. He looked out the window, but Locke had already disappeared.
"He's going to the Refuge, where Celes is resting under a permanent Stop spell," Aurelie explained.
"Wait, huh?" Hex looked at her questioningly. "What exactly happened to this friend of his, anyway?"
Before Aurelie could answer, Leon interrupted. "Look, I appreciate Locke's problem, Aurelie, but we could really use your help in finding the Keyblade Master King Mickey told us was coming."
"He's on his way, don't worry," Hex said.
Leon turned on Hex in a flash. "Do you know something?" he asked sternly.
"Only what I was told in the Shrine of Elemental Hearts, man," Hex answered.
"Leave the kid alone, Leon," Cid said quietly. "He's the EssenceFighter, he's got more important things to do then keep track of the Keyblade Master for us."
"Thank you, Cid," Aurelie said.
"Alright," Hex shook his head. "I'm sensing a whole lot of tension in this room. What exactly have you all been through?"
"It's a long story," Yuffie sighed.
"Well, if the Keyblade Master hasn't even gotten this far yet," Hex sat down in a chair near the window, "then I think we have time."