Chapter One
"Wow this place is pretty cool." Masako smiled, spinning in a circle in the plaza of Traverse Town's First District. Her long blonde hair swished over her shoulders as she turned, the cerulean streaks in the few front strands falling against her pale cheeks. "Definitely a lot more peaceful than some of the places I've been." Looking through the quiet part of town she sighed. "I wish I had lived here when I was little."
The black knapsack she had slung over one shoulder, rustled and she looked back at it. "Hush. You have to be quiet for now." She whispered to it.
Whatever was in the back squeaked but it suddenly fell motionless.
Hopping up the steps, she found the huge heavy wooden door for the Second District and struggled to pull it open. Getting a gap just big enough for her, she slipped through, hearing the massive door slam behind her.
This section of town was closed up, every shop and house locked. The place looked deserted. Two steps into the place and you could figure out why.
"I wonder why-" she started but never finished her sentence. The first movement she made, huge black portals opened in the floor and out of them leaked dozens of Heartless. The entire district was over run with them.
The girl gasped, taking a step back as the shadow creatures targeted in on her. With this many, there was no way she would be able to survive a chance with them.
"Hyaaaa!"
From above a beam of ice shot out, freezing all the nearby Heartless on the level near here and sending many of the Heartless Knights scampering away.
A boy jumped down from the building, a long silver staff in hand. With a mighty blow he ran the rod horizontally across the frozen wall of heartless, watching the creatures shatter into a thousand iced pieces.
"Are you okay?" he yelled back over his shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, stalking up to him.
"What do you mean?" he gritted his teeth. Grabbing her arm he pulled her backwards toward the door. Putting a hand out a cold wind blew and suddenly ice formed, blowing the advancing Heartless back in a frozen wind. "Open the door!"
Yanking her hand back, Masako pulled all her might and got the door to open slightly. Pushing her body between the crack, she grabbed her mysterious stranger and pulled him through, they both landing on the floor of the first district while the Heartless stayed concealed behind the thick door.
"What were you doing in there? Don't you know that the rest of this place is overwhelming with Heartless?" he stood up, yelling at her.
She looked up at him, studying his face. In the dim light of the second district she hadn't seen what he looked like, but out here where the town was still lively and the lights lit up the night sky, she could see him clearly. See his cold expression, his merciless crystal blue eyes and his messy ponytail that had gotten pulled loose when they had squeezed through the door. She giggled, looking at him. He was young about her age, but the serious look didn't suit his handsome childish face at all, and neither did the messy look of his messed up tangled onyx ponytail.
"What's so funny?" he demanded which only caused her to laugh more.
She stood, walking behind him and snagging the black band out of the rest of his black hairy mess. "Hey!" he growled. She just shook her head, pulling the shoulder-length curtain back into a low ponytail like he had had it and looking at her handwork with a smile. "There, that looks a lot better."
His tan cheeks hinted crimson, but he just sighed, running a hand through his spiky bangs before crossing his arms. "Thank you."
"It's no problem. I can't thank you enough for saving me. I walked in there thinking that it was just like this part of town. I didn't know."
He looked over at her, searching her dark brown eyes for the sincerity he heard in her voice. A faint smile came to his lips. "I guess it was okay. No body was hurt."
Just then her backpack rustled and squeaked. The girl's eyes widened. "No…! Chiro, you okay?" Taking the backpack off, she knelt down, opening the flap.
"Chiro?" the boy raised an eyebrow.
"Junichiro." She told him, looking into the bag. All of a sudden the bag jumped and out flew a small brown and red Wyvern Heartless, growling at the girl's new acquaintance.
The stranger jumped back, bringing up his staff. "What the-" his eyes widened. "What's that doing here?!" he went to leap forward to attack it when the girl pulled the little creature back against her chest protectively.
"Don't hurt him!"