The Promise
Chapter 5
By: Samurai Noble
"We'll be headin' out in the morning." Cid told Squall as he joined the few people at the boarding house for a meal an hour after equipping Sora with the new arm.
"So Sora's going to be leaving too?" Rinoa asked.
"Yup." Cid accompanied it with a nod as he shoved another bite into his mouth. "He wants to ride along I suppose. Really I think he just needs to get movin' again."
"Why?" Zell asked curiously.
"Well, he's been fighting them heartless 28 or 29 years from what he's told me, so he's had to move around a lot and that kind of living just gets embedded into your brain so much that you can barely stand still. It makes it impossible to call one place home really." Cid replied. "Sorta reminds me of back in my younger years when I was just like that."
"Speaking of Sora, where is he anyways?" Marlene asked in a worried tone.
"He's outside givin' that new arm a test." Cid had a satisfied look on his face as he continued. "Kinda makes one proud to see their craftsmanship appreciated so much."
Sora, now wearing his upper armor and the protective collar, watched the house from the distance he had chosen to begin getting used to the new arm. It almost reminded him of Destiny Islands. Almost. By now, the kids there, or the adults there would be outside at a bonfire or just hanging out or whatever.
Sora let out a deep yawn and shook his head a bit.
"Now, let's get started." Sora said in a quiet determined voice.
The hand of the mechanical arm folded into the arm and out came the barrel of a small cannon. He raised it high into the air, then brought it down quickly to a horizontal position and fired off a Firaga attack at what he assumed was a far off rock face.
Within seconds, his target was decimated. Sora looked in shock at the cannon then at the now nonexistent large boulder.
"Boy, he wasn't joking when he said this thing enhanced my magic. I gotta be careful with that one."
He went through different attachments, seeing how much each weighed, how quickly it fired and how much ammo was used. He was becoming more and more pleased with his new weapon. However, there was one last attachment to try out.
"Key blade adaptor. But will it work…?" Sora asked himself. "One way to find out."
He summoned up the staff like limb of the arm and brought out a key chain to attach to it. He selected the Lion Heart. He attached the key chain to a loop at the crook of the arm.
He waited a second, watching expectantly for a reaction from the staff. After a while, he sighed in disappointment.
"I don't know why I thought that would work…" He said coldly.
He began to detach the key chain. The staff then morphed into a translucent sword like key blade, from the hilt of the blade to the end it was like a mixture of blue, gold and many other colors. At the far end of the key blade, a magnificent lion's head stuck down ward, making it the true key shape.
"Whoa…" Sora was impressed.
He swung it forward then sideways, impressed at how light it was.
"I think I could get to like this…"
It was morning. Sora had been up all night, a child like eagerness in him for the trip towards…
"Where will we be going, Cid?" Sora asked as he followed Cid towards the Hyperion ship.
"I'm hopin' to make it to Traverse Town by the end of the day." Cid replied, not looking back at the Key master.
The good byes prior to the short conversation had been harder then Sora thought they would be. Squall and Rinoa offered to let him stay there if he ever needed to, Rinoa crying a bit but still smiling. Barret and Zell had shaken his hand and Marlene seemed to have been the most distressed about Sora's leaving.
"I'll come back and visit, I promise." His reply to Marlene's sadness echoed through his mind.
"I gotta quit doin' that…." Sora said under his breath.
"Doin' what?" Cid asked.
"Just talking to myself."
"That's really weird, Sora."
"So our brave hero wishes to go to Traverse Town, does he?" Maleficent scoffed as she watched the key blade master and Cid travel through the vast sea of stars towards their intended destination. She sat in the deep chamber of Crimson Castle, darkness all around her. The chill in the air was like that of being in a graveyard in mid-winter, the smell included.
"I believe we can put a halt to this, can we not?" The sorceress looked to the shadows with a confident smirk. If one looked close enough, they could almost see the tail of a snake slithering off.
"We should've seen Wonderland by now at least…I don't understand what's going on…" Cid mumbled under his breath as he watched the Hyperion's navigation chart.
"Don't tell me we're lost…" Sora said in a frustrated tone.
"We're not, according this, we're right on course." Cid replied.
"Then why aren't we there yet?"
"I'm just as confused about this as you are hero."
"Great…Hey wait a minute." Sora looked out the window of the main cabin at the stars. He saw a string of stars placed in a thin, yet squiggly strip almost resembling a worm. "I don't remember that constellation…"
"What constellation?" Cid asked as he stepped over to Sora's side and looked up at the worm. "Funny, neither do I…and I've been up and down this route almost my entire life."
"Maybe we are lost…" Sora trailed off.
"Now hold on, maybe neither of us noticed it up until now."
"No, you would have remembered it, and so would I…That thing isn't there in the future."
"Maybe it's just some new worlds bein' restored."
"We need to check it out." Sora said in a determined tone.
"Now?!" Cid burst out and turned to look at the key blade master. "Are you crazy? We don't know what's out there!"
"Let's find out."
"We have to be smart about this, kid. This could be a set up. Maleficent might have something' to do with this…"
Sora began to object, but remembered his history with Maleficent tricking him.
"Wait, some of those stars around it…" Cid looked up at the worm again. "Those stars near the worm look similar to the ones around Agrabah."
"Really?" Sora looked back up at the worm as well. "How can you tell when it's so far away?"
"I've been goin to Agrabah a lot, and that stuff just sticks in your head after the 30th trip or so."
"Hmm, I haven't been back there in a while…not in at least 12 years…" Sora noticed the odd glance Cid was giving him. "Well, not in 12 years from my time."
"The warp hole to Agrabah should be close." Cid began as he strode over to the controls.
"On to Agrabah then." Sora added.
"You could add a please to that." the old mechanic said in a grumpy tone.
"Please…"
"Better."
*One week later…*
(This is juuust perfect.) Sora thought as he looked over the wide expanse of sand. It was like a light brown ocean.
It had taken a day to get to the warp hole, and out of nowhere, the ship's engine just gave out as they were beginning to pull into the world's atmosphere.
Cid had to stay behind to fix his beloved ship and Sora had decided to head to Agrabah's city in hopes of getting some food, water, or if he was lucky both. The water tank that supplied the water to the ship had been busted. Cid explained to Sora that there couldn't be any way the tank had busted upon crashing because the water tank was almost indestructible and well enough inside the ship's innards that it shouldn't have been able to bust. Upon closer inspection of the tank, the hole looked almost unnatural.
"I think this was a set up, kid." Cid had told Sora before he left 5 days ago. "Someone wants us here. Or you, at least."
"Wow that makes me feel better." Sora replied sarcastically.
"Just be careful. We're a long way from the city, and there are bandits out there." Cid cautioned the key blade master
A long way was right. Cid didn't have any form of ground transportation on the ship. He had never needed it, so the mechanic had drastically underestimated the distance the city was.
(Geez, I guess there won't be any condo developments out here any time soon. But, mother's ghost, why couldn't there be at least a well or something?!) The key master thought in annoyance.
Cid had given him a canteen of water, stuff he had saved for an emergency such as this, no doubt, a chunk of what Sora assumed was hardtack, and a communications accessory for his arm. The once young hero had long become accustomed to being without what he called "frills". He had learned how to ration food and water when he needed to. But the key blade wielder had long ignored training for the near unbearable heat of the desert.
He desperately wished to take off the heavy armor he had on, but it was the only protection his skin had from the blazing sun. One precaution could never be made without sacrificing something the man would need desperately. Circumstances will never be on one's side, he had reasoned over time. And the principle never failed him.
Sora had brought out a pair of dark lenses goggles he had for emergencies. The lenses were made from a special glass that protected one's eyes from even the brightest of lights. He had obtained them years ago from a friendly merchant. The merchant had this accent that reminded Sora of a middle eastern man, but the merchant, Rin was what he said his name was, claimed he was Albud or Al Bad or something like that.
Sora spotted something in the distance.
(Oh great…Flying heartless. Just what I need.)
Five flying warriors in a V-formation were headed straight for the key blade master. They stopped 10 yards in the air above Sora, circling him as if they were buzzards rather then heartless.
"Might as well give this thing a real test." The middle-aged warrior said easily as he shifted his arm into a cannon like form.
A brave heartless, the leader from how it carried itself, dove down first. Sora took aim and sent a fire speel straight through the winged creature's gut.
He shot again at another one, relieving it of it's head. Two of the remaining three dove down at the same time, splitting up as they approached.
"Wow, you're actually strategizing. I'm scared now." The warrior's tone was heavy in sarcasm as he picked off the one who had dove to the right. The remaining heartless dove straight for the warrior's head, but was quickly knocked to the side by the key blade held in the other hand of the warrior. The remaining heartless began to ram Sora in the back, but was quickly smacked with the key blade and blasted with a shot of fire from the cannon.
"Why do those weak things even bother to challenge me?" Sora asked no one in particular.
"They prove for a good distraction." A smarmy tone came from behind him.
Sora looked behind him, instantly a shot of pain went through him, followed by sudden darkness and spell of sleep.
"Wow, you really let him have it." Iago said as he looked over the unconscious body of the key blade master from Jafar's shoulder.
"I have much to settle with him." Jafar said darkly as he held his cobra head staff up to his eyes to look over the few spots of blood that had managed to find their way to the staff. "You've no idea how good that felt, Iago."
"I can well imagine. But, geez you'd think the idiot would know to look behind him once in a while." The parrot said.
"Well, the heartless did prove to be a good distraction I suppose, but the key bearer has a strong tendency to ignore anything coming from behind him." Jafar smiled, obviously satisfied with himself. "I'm surprised he judged the attack pattern of that last heartless well enough to guard his backside."
His signature smug look came over him as quickly as had his smile earlier.
"Now, watch the body. And when he wakes up, lead him to the oasis. Now, I must go prepare." Jafar said as Iago flew off of his shoulder to the sand.
"Prepare what?" The parrot asked as the genie/magician left.
"Fool, I need to hide this." Jafar held up a familiar looking black lamp. "Last time I fought him, he figured out it was my weak point. I will not let that happen again."
"Geez, he acts like that was my fault." The parrot said in annoyance as his master left.
"Uuhhh…." Sora groaned, blinking once or twice before sitting up. "What the heck happened…?" The key blade master wondered.
He looked about his surroundings. He was on a hillside full of white wild flowers, similar to the ones he remembered from, well, actually he didn't remember ever coming across flowers such as these. This wasn't Agrabah. Where was he?
The sweet smell of the wild flower's in the breeze quieted his usual danger instinct when he was in unfamiliar territory.
He picked one of the flowers and looked at it closely. It felt real. He raised the flower to his nose. It smelled real. Or was this just a trick.
His senses picked up one familiar sound. The ocean tide coming to the shore and gulls cawing, harmonizing the tides.
He quickly got up and looked around as swiftly, his hand coming to his back where his key blade usually was. He began to wrap his fingers around the blade's hilt, but another familiar sound halted this action.
A woman's voice, softer then anything the warrior was accustomed to, laughing off in the distance. He relinquished his hand from his blade's hilt and listened again for the sound. It came again, almost an eternity apart from the first. Sora ran towards the source of the sound quickly, his heart racing.
"Maybe whoever this is can help me make sense of this." The warrior said, his voice like a small spring of hope welling up from his heart.
As he approached, he heard the same voice, but this time in a speaking manner rather then laughter. The warrior increased his pace, finally coming to another hill, which he quickly crossed over. He stopped at the hill's peak and looked onward. A lone figure stood at the shore of a beach, looking on at the sea. It was a woman, Sora could tell, from her thin, well made form. The woman wore a straw hat, a feather sticking almost horizontally from the brim, and a pink sweater over a white sundress that came to her ankles, which stood over two bare feet in the wet sand of the beach. She stood at a point where her feet were at the edge of where the water could reach, bathing her toes lightly. Her long, dark red hair blew back, giving a momentary umbrella to her hands, which were both behind her back, intertwined in a way Sora could have recognized anywhere.
"Kairi!!" Sora called out immediately as he rushed towards the woman.
She didn't move any at all as the warrior ran to her. He stopped at about ten feet away. He began towards her cautiously, stopping at touching distance. He reached out, his hand almost afraid of touching the woman. His hand finally rested on the woman's delicate shoulder.
It was cold.
"Kairi?" Sora asked curiously.
The woman turned to face him. Her face was pointed down.
"Kairi, it's me, Sora…"
The woman raised her head. Sora lurched back in surprise. The woman's face was that of a snake. The snake then pounced at Sora's face.
"Aaah!!!" Sora yelled as he awoke.
"Gaah!!" Iago screamed in shock, flying up into the air out of bird instinct.
Sora looked around quickly. He was definitely in Agrabah. Everything was as it had been when he had been knocked out.
"What was that?" Sora asked himself quietly.
His breathing was quick and hard, his lungs begging for more and more air.
Suddenly a wave of anger over came him. His teeth clenched as he realized how cruel his dream had been.
"I was so close…" He said through his teeth. "Why did it have to feel so real?"
"What are you talking about?" Iago asked as he flew back down to Sora.
The Key blade holder immediately came to his needed senses and he focused on the parrot.
"You!! How did you come back?!!" Sora demanded as he reached quickly for Iago with his right hand, grabbing the fat parrot and squeezing him in frustration.
"Lemme go!!" The parrot yelled.
"What are you doing here?!" Sora demanded, his voice darker. He gave the bird a firmer squeeze, taking out his frustration from the dream on the bird.
"Lemme go and I'll tell you! I can't breath!" Iago yelled.
Sora lightened the grip enough to allow Iago a much needed breath.
"What's going on here, bird?" Sora demanded.
"Uuhhh." The parrot searched his mind for an explanation that wouldn't blow the plan. "You were knocked out…by…a…thief!" I ago smiled, satisfied for how legitimate the lie sounded as he continued. "And I found you here and made sure nothing attacked you. You owe me your life."
"Why would you help me?" Sora said angrily, suspicion in his tone. "I'm the one who defeated your master."
"Yes, but…I….feel terrible about my past actions. I felt a tremendous guilt come over me as soon as I remembered how awful Jafar was and how I had helped him. I wanna turn over a new leaf, start anew, if you will."
Sora gave Iago a suspicious look.
"How'd you get out of that lamp?" Sora asked, trying to se if the parrot would falter in his story.
"I was able to squeeze my way out. It took a while, but I managed it." Iago said confidently, the story becoming easier to add to.
Sora sighed. The story sounded legitimate. How could he know whether or not it was possible for an animal of Iago's size to be able to get out of such a lamp.
"Fine. I'll buy your story." Sora said as he let go of the bird and stood up.
Iago let out a deep breath.
(Good, he bought it.) Iago thought happily.
"Where's the lamp?" Sora asked.
Iago didn't feel quite as happy now.
"The lamp…uh…I…tossed it down a well as soon as I got out." Iago gave a big grin, hoping it would seal the story.
Sora rubbed his chin, looking the bird over. He could tell Iago as nervous about something.
"Interesting. So you have no idea what may have happened to the lamp since, am I right?" Sora asked.
"Yup. It's the honest truth." Iago said quickly.
"So, someone could have that lamp and be able to set Jafar free anytime, am I right?"
"Yeah…I think I saw some signs he was around the oasis. I remember hearing explosions. Honest. I'll even lead ya' to it."
(He's hiding something, or planning something, one or the other.) Sora thought. (Maybe I'll just see what he's planning.)
"How far away is this oasis?" Sora asked.
"Pretty far. It might take at least a day." Iago said with a quick nod.
"Alright. I guess it is my responsibility to stop anything Jafar has planned, being I have the key blade. Lead the way Iago."
(I'll get to the bottom of this. One way or the other.) Sora thought as Iago began flying north from their current position.
(He fell for it, I can't believe it!) Iago thought happily.
(Sucker.) Both thought a the same time.
Chapter 5
By: Samurai Noble
"We'll be headin' out in the morning." Cid told Squall as he joined the few people at the boarding house for a meal an hour after equipping Sora with the new arm.
"So Sora's going to be leaving too?" Rinoa asked.
"Yup." Cid accompanied it with a nod as he shoved another bite into his mouth. "He wants to ride along I suppose. Really I think he just needs to get movin' again."
"Why?" Zell asked curiously.
"Well, he's been fighting them heartless 28 or 29 years from what he's told me, so he's had to move around a lot and that kind of living just gets embedded into your brain so much that you can barely stand still. It makes it impossible to call one place home really." Cid replied. "Sorta reminds me of back in my younger years when I was just like that."
"Speaking of Sora, where is he anyways?" Marlene asked in a worried tone.
"He's outside givin' that new arm a test." Cid had a satisfied look on his face as he continued. "Kinda makes one proud to see their craftsmanship appreciated so much."
Sora, now wearing his upper armor and the protective collar, watched the house from the distance he had chosen to begin getting used to the new arm. It almost reminded him of Destiny Islands. Almost. By now, the kids there, or the adults there would be outside at a bonfire or just hanging out or whatever.
Sora let out a deep yawn and shook his head a bit.
"Now, let's get started." Sora said in a quiet determined voice.
The hand of the mechanical arm folded into the arm and out came the barrel of a small cannon. He raised it high into the air, then brought it down quickly to a horizontal position and fired off a Firaga attack at what he assumed was a far off rock face.
Within seconds, his target was decimated. Sora looked in shock at the cannon then at the now nonexistent large boulder.
"Boy, he wasn't joking when he said this thing enhanced my magic. I gotta be careful with that one."
He went through different attachments, seeing how much each weighed, how quickly it fired and how much ammo was used. He was becoming more and more pleased with his new weapon. However, there was one last attachment to try out.
"Key blade adaptor. But will it work…?" Sora asked himself. "One way to find out."
He summoned up the staff like limb of the arm and brought out a key chain to attach to it. He selected the Lion Heart. He attached the key chain to a loop at the crook of the arm.
He waited a second, watching expectantly for a reaction from the staff. After a while, he sighed in disappointment.
"I don't know why I thought that would work…" He said coldly.
He began to detach the key chain. The staff then morphed into a translucent sword like key blade, from the hilt of the blade to the end it was like a mixture of blue, gold and many other colors. At the far end of the key blade, a magnificent lion's head stuck down ward, making it the true key shape.
"Whoa…" Sora was impressed.
He swung it forward then sideways, impressed at how light it was.
"I think I could get to like this…"
It was morning. Sora had been up all night, a child like eagerness in him for the trip towards…
"Where will we be going, Cid?" Sora asked as he followed Cid towards the Hyperion ship.
"I'm hopin' to make it to Traverse Town by the end of the day." Cid replied, not looking back at the Key master.
The good byes prior to the short conversation had been harder then Sora thought they would be. Squall and Rinoa offered to let him stay there if he ever needed to, Rinoa crying a bit but still smiling. Barret and Zell had shaken his hand and Marlene seemed to have been the most distressed about Sora's leaving.
"I'll come back and visit, I promise." His reply to Marlene's sadness echoed through his mind.
"I gotta quit doin' that…." Sora said under his breath.
"Doin' what?" Cid asked.
"Just talking to myself."
"That's really weird, Sora."
"So our brave hero wishes to go to Traverse Town, does he?" Maleficent scoffed as she watched the key blade master and Cid travel through the vast sea of stars towards their intended destination. She sat in the deep chamber of Crimson Castle, darkness all around her. The chill in the air was like that of being in a graveyard in mid-winter, the smell included.
"I believe we can put a halt to this, can we not?" The sorceress looked to the shadows with a confident smirk. If one looked close enough, they could almost see the tail of a snake slithering off.
"We should've seen Wonderland by now at least…I don't understand what's going on…" Cid mumbled under his breath as he watched the Hyperion's navigation chart.
"Don't tell me we're lost…" Sora said in a frustrated tone.
"We're not, according this, we're right on course." Cid replied.
"Then why aren't we there yet?"
"I'm just as confused about this as you are hero."
"Great…Hey wait a minute." Sora looked out the window of the main cabin at the stars. He saw a string of stars placed in a thin, yet squiggly strip almost resembling a worm. "I don't remember that constellation…"
"What constellation?" Cid asked as he stepped over to Sora's side and looked up at the worm. "Funny, neither do I…and I've been up and down this route almost my entire life."
"Maybe we are lost…" Sora trailed off.
"Now hold on, maybe neither of us noticed it up until now."
"No, you would have remembered it, and so would I…That thing isn't there in the future."
"Maybe it's just some new worlds bein' restored."
"We need to check it out." Sora said in a determined tone.
"Now?!" Cid burst out and turned to look at the key blade master. "Are you crazy? We don't know what's out there!"
"Let's find out."
"We have to be smart about this, kid. This could be a set up. Maleficent might have something' to do with this…"
Sora began to object, but remembered his history with Maleficent tricking him.
"Wait, some of those stars around it…" Cid looked up at the worm again. "Those stars near the worm look similar to the ones around Agrabah."
"Really?" Sora looked back up at the worm as well. "How can you tell when it's so far away?"
"I've been goin to Agrabah a lot, and that stuff just sticks in your head after the 30th trip or so."
"Hmm, I haven't been back there in a while…not in at least 12 years…" Sora noticed the odd glance Cid was giving him. "Well, not in 12 years from my time."
"The warp hole to Agrabah should be close." Cid began as he strode over to the controls.
"On to Agrabah then." Sora added.
"You could add a please to that." the old mechanic said in a grumpy tone.
"Please…"
"Better."
*One week later…*
(This is juuust perfect.) Sora thought as he looked over the wide expanse of sand. It was like a light brown ocean.
It had taken a day to get to the warp hole, and out of nowhere, the ship's engine just gave out as they were beginning to pull into the world's atmosphere.
Cid had to stay behind to fix his beloved ship and Sora had decided to head to Agrabah's city in hopes of getting some food, water, or if he was lucky both. The water tank that supplied the water to the ship had been busted. Cid explained to Sora that there couldn't be any way the tank had busted upon crashing because the water tank was almost indestructible and well enough inside the ship's innards that it shouldn't have been able to bust. Upon closer inspection of the tank, the hole looked almost unnatural.
"I think this was a set up, kid." Cid had told Sora before he left 5 days ago. "Someone wants us here. Or you, at least."
"Wow that makes me feel better." Sora replied sarcastically.
"Just be careful. We're a long way from the city, and there are bandits out there." Cid cautioned the key blade master
A long way was right. Cid didn't have any form of ground transportation on the ship. He had never needed it, so the mechanic had drastically underestimated the distance the city was.
(Geez, I guess there won't be any condo developments out here any time soon. But, mother's ghost, why couldn't there be at least a well or something?!) The key master thought in annoyance.
Cid had given him a canteen of water, stuff he had saved for an emergency such as this, no doubt, a chunk of what Sora assumed was hardtack, and a communications accessory for his arm. The once young hero had long become accustomed to being without what he called "frills". He had learned how to ration food and water when he needed to. But the key blade wielder had long ignored training for the near unbearable heat of the desert.
He desperately wished to take off the heavy armor he had on, but it was the only protection his skin had from the blazing sun. One precaution could never be made without sacrificing something the man would need desperately. Circumstances will never be on one's side, he had reasoned over time. And the principle never failed him.
Sora had brought out a pair of dark lenses goggles he had for emergencies. The lenses were made from a special glass that protected one's eyes from even the brightest of lights. He had obtained them years ago from a friendly merchant. The merchant had this accent that reminded Sora of a middle eastern man, but the merchant, Rin was what he said his name was, claimed he was Albud or Al Bad or something like that.
Sora spotted something in the distance.
(Oh great…Flying heartless. Just what I need.)
Five flying warriors in a V-formation were headed straight for the key blade master. They stopped 10 yards in the air above Sora, circling him as if they were buzzards rather then heartless.
"Might as well give this thing a real test." The middle-aged warrior said easily as he shifted his arm into a cannon like form.
A brave heartless, the leader from how it carried itself, dove down first. Sora took aim and sent a fire speel straight through the winged creature's gut.
He shot again at another one, relieving it of it's head. Two of the remaining three dove down at the same time, splitting up as they approached.
"Wow, you're actually strategizing. I'm scared now." The warrior's tone was heavy in sarcasm as he picked off the one who had dove to the right. The remaining heartless dove straight for the warrior's head, but was quickly knocked to the side by the key blade held in the other hand of the warrior. The remaining heartless began to ram Sora in the back, but was quickly smacked with the key blade and blasted with a shot of fire from the cannon.
"Why do those weak things even bother to challenge me?" Sora asked no one in particular.
"They prove for a good distraction." A smarmy tone came from behind him.
Sora looked behind him, instantly a shot of pain went through him, followed by sudden darkness and spell of sleep.
"Wow, you really let him have it." Iago said as he looked over the unconscious body of the key blade master from Jafar's shoulder.
"I have much to settle with him." Jafar said darkly as he held his cobra head staff up to his eyes to look over the few spots of blood that had managed to find their way to the staff. "You've no idea how good that felt, Iago."
"I can well imagine. But, geez you'd think the idiot would know to look behind him once in a while." The parrot said.
"Well, the heartless did prove to be a good distraction I suppose, but the key bearer has a strong tendency to ignore anything coming from behind him." Jafar smiled, obviously satisfied with himself. "I'm surprised he judged the attack pattern of that last heartless well enough to guard his backside."
His signature smug look came over him as quickly as had his smile earlier.
"Now, watch the body. And when he wakes up, lead him to the oasis. Now, I must go prepare." Jafar said as Iago flew off of his shoulder to the sand.
"Prepare what?" The parrot asked as the genie/magician left.
"Fool, I need to hide this." Jafar held up a familiar looking black lamp. "Last time I fought him, he figured out it was my weak point. I will not let that happen again."
"Geez, he acts like that was my fault." The parrot said in annoyance as his master left.
"Uuhhh…." Sora groaned, blinking once or twice before sitting up. "What the heck happened…?" The key blade master wondered.
He looked about his surroundings. He was on a hillside full of white wild flowers, similar to the ones he remembered from, well, actually he didn't remember ever coming across flowers such as these. This wasn't Agrabah. Where was he?
The sweet smell of the wild flower's in the breeze quieted his usual danger instinct when he was in unfamiliar territory.
He picked one of the flowers and looked at it closely. It felt real. He raised the flower to his nose. It smelled real. Or was this just a trick.
His senses picked up one familiar sound. The ocean tide coming to the shore and gulls cawing, harmonizing the tides.
He quickly got up and looked around as swiftly, his hand coming to his back where his key blade usually was. He began to wrap his fingers around the blade's hilt, but another familiar sound halted this action.
A woman's voice, softer then anything the warrior was accustomed to, laughing off in the distance. He relinquished his hand from his blade's hilt and listened again for the sound. It came again, almost an eternity apart from the first. Sora ran towards the source of the sound quickly, his heart racing.
"Maybe whoever this is can help me make sense of this." The warrior said, his voice like a small spring of hope welling up from his heart.
As he approached, he heard the same voice, but this time in a speaking manner rather then laughter. The warrior increased his pace, finally coming to another hill, which he quickly crossed over. He stopped at the hill's peak and looked onward. A lone figure stood at the shore of a beach, looking on at the sea. It was a woman, Sora could tell, from her thin, well made form. The woman wore a straw hat, a feather sticking almost horizontally from the brim, and a pink sweater over a white sundress that came to her ankles, which stood over two bare feet in the wet sand of the beach. She stood at a point where her feet were at the edge of where the water could reach, bathing her toes lightly. Her long, dark red hair blew back, giving a momentary umbrella to her hands, which were both behind her back, intertwined in a way Sora could have recognized anywhere.
"Kairi!!" Sora called out immediately as he rushed towards the woman.
She didn't move any at all as the warrior ran to her. He stopped at about ten feet away. He began towards her cautiously, stopping at touching distance. He reached out, his hand almost afraid of touching the woman. His hand finally rested on the woman's delicate shoulder.
It was cold.
"Kairi?" Sora asked curiously.
The woman turned to face him. Her face was pointed down.
"Kairi, it's me, Sora…"
The woman raised her head. Sora lurched back in surprise. The woman's face was that of a snake. The snake then pounced at Sora's face.
"Aaah!!!" Sora yelled as he awoke.
"Gaah!!" Iago screamed in shock, flying up into the air out of bird instinct.
Sora looked around quickly. He was definitely in Agrabah. Everything was as it had been when he had been knocked out.
"What was that?" Sora asked himself quietly.
His breathing was quick and hard, his lungs begging for more and more air.
Suddenly a wave of anger over came him. His teeth clenched as he realized how cruel his dream had been.
"I was so close…" He said through his teeth. "Why did it have to feel so real?"
"What are you talking about?" Iago asked as he flew back down to Sora.
The Key blade holder immediately came to his needed senses and he focused on the parrot.
"You!! How did you come back?!!" Sora demanded as he reached quickly for Iago with his right hand, grabbing the fat parrot and squeezing him in frustration.
"Lemme go!!" The parrot yelled.
"What are you doing here?!" Sora demanded, his voice darker. He gave the bird a firmer squeeze, taking out his frustration from the dream on the bird.
"Lemme go and I'll tell you! I can't breath!" Iago yelled.
Sora lightened the grip enough to allow Iago a much needed breath.
"What's going on here, bird?" Sora demanded.
"Uuhhh." The parrot searched his mind for an explanation that wouldn't blow the plan. "You were knocked out…by…a…thief!" I ago smiled, satisfied for how legitimate the lie sounded as he continued. "And I found you here and made sure nothing attacked you. You owe me your life."
"Why would you help me?" Sora said angrily, suspicion in his tone. "I'm the one who defeated your master."
"Yes, but…I….feel terrible about my past actions. I felt a tremendous guilt come over me as soon as I remembered how awful Jafar was and how I had helped him. I wanna turn over a new leaf, start anew, if you will."
Sora gave Iago a suspicious look.
"How'd you get out of that lamp?" Sora asked, trying to se if the parrot would falter in his story.
"I was able to squeeze my way out. It took a while, but I managed it." Iago said confidently, the story becoming easier to add to.
Sora sighed. The story sounded legitimate. How could he know whether or not it was possible for an animal of Iago's size to be able to get out of such a lamp.
"Fine. I'll buy your story." Sora said as he let go of the bird and stood up.
Iago let out a deep breath.
(Good, he bought it.) Iago thought happily.
"Where's the lamp?" Sora asked.
Iago didn't feel quite as happy now.
"The lamp…uh…I…tossed it down a well as soon as I got out." Iago gave a big grin, hoping it would seal the story.
Sora rubbed his chin, looking the bird over. He could tell Iago as nervous about something.
"Interesting. So you have no idea what may have happened to the lamp since, am I right?" Sora asked.
"Yup. It's the honest truth." Iago said quickly.
"So, someone could have that lamp and be able to set Jafar free anytime, am I right?"
"Yeah…I think I saw some signs he was around the oasis. I remember hearing explosions. Honest. I'll even lead ya' to it."
(He's hiding something, or planning something, one or the other.) Sora thought. (Maybe I'll just see what he's planning.)
"How far away is this oasis?" Sora asked.
"Pretty far. It might take at least a day." Iago said with a quick nod.
"Alright. I guess it is my responsibility to stop anything Jafar has planned, being I have the key blade. Lead the way Iago."
(I'll get to the bottom of this. One way or the other.) Sora thought as Iago began flying north from their current position.
(He fell for it, I can't believe it!) Iago thought happily.
(Sucker.) Both thought a the same time.