Angel-chan: I am so, SO sorry I took SUCH a long time to update this story! *ducks from all the watermelons thrown at her*

Fallen Templar: *glares*

Angel-chan: *to FT* It's OK, I deserved that. *to reader* Anyways, I sincerely apologize again. I had been in a writer's block for the LONGEST time (yes, you CAN have a writer's block for that long… At least with me, anyway. @_@), and then I even lost interest after a while. But now that I finally have free time again, I'm starting to get back into it! ^_^ And I WOULD reply to all the reviews, but there are just too many of them! So, instead, I'll just say: Thank you all SO much for your reviews, and your patience! Shall we move on, now?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, what do you propose we do now?" Raziel asked.

Raziel and Sora walked down the dusty path side-by-side, Sora walking with his hands behind his head, staring contemplatively at the sky. In truth, he actually wanted to avoid looking at Raziel, for fear of offending him by staring.

"Hmm…" Sora murmured, closing his eyes for a second. He opened them again and addressed Raziel — again, whilst avoiding eye contact. "Are you familiar with a thing called a 'Keyhole'?"

He could feel the undead creature's fiery gaze turn to him. The boy shrugged a bit uncomfortably.

"A 'Keyhole'?" Raziel asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know of various strange keyholes throughout this world; many of which guard certain shrines, which can only be opened by the Reaver."

Sora blinked. "The 'Reaver'?"

Meanwhile, trailing several meters behind the talking duo, Goofy, trembling and hiding behind his shield, slowly and cautiously followed them. Donald was hiding behind the frightened dog.

"G-G-G-Gaaaaawwrrsh," Goofy stammered. "Th-That guy sure is sc-scary-lookin'!"

"Aw, phooey!" Donald replied sulkily. "He'sh not sho tough." He looked on sourly as Sora and Raziel appeared to be discussing something serious.

"Uhh, but Donald, you were barely able to scratch 'im." Goofy replied. "'Sides, yer scared of 'im too, aren't ya?"

"Aww, I'm not shcared of him!" Donald said confidently.

"Uhh, if yer not scared of 'im, then why are ya hidin' behind me?" Goofy scratched his head, slightly confused.

Donald quickly walked out from behind Goofy and strutted forward. "Ah, what do you know, ya big palooka?!" the little duck retorted defensively.

Despite his "fearless" claim, however, Donald continued to keep his distance from Raziel, but only walked along-side Goofy, rather than behind him.

"Uhh, what do I know?" Goofy wondered, scratching his head again. Donald shook his head at his friend's idiocy.

The two looked ahead at Sora and Raziel again, and were alarmed to suddenly find Raziel brandishing a glowing blade on his arm seemingly at Sora! Their sense of duty kicking in, Donald and Goofy rushed to them.

"What do ya think you're doing?!" Donald shrieked at Raziel, jumping between the undead creature and the boy. He readied his staff and pointed it at Raziel.

"Donald, wait!" Sora cried, grabbing Donald's wrist. "It's okay! He was just showing me what a 'Reaver' was."

"Uh, a 'weaver'?" Goofy asked.

"A 'Reaver'." Raziel corrected, holding up the glowing sword again. Donald was immediately on his guard.

"Hmph. I see your friends still fear me." Raziel said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. The ethereal blade vanished back into his arm, and he continued to stare at his hand contemplatively. "It comes as no surprise. With a form like this, how could anyone look at me in any other way than fear?"

"Raziel, I'm really sorry about this!" Sora quickly apologized. "It's nothing personal, it's just that Donald doesn't trust people easily."

"Nor do I." Raziel replied sternly.

"Then why don't ya jusht leave?!" Donald said fiercely.

"Very well." Raziel replied flatly. "I see you never did wish for my assistance, so therefore following you any further would simply be a waste of my time." With that, he turned and walked away.

"Raziel! Wait!" Sora called after him. The vampire wraith did not stop. The boy glared sternly at the stubborn little duck.

"There, are you happy now?" he said crossly. "He was our only guide to this world and now you chased him away!"

"Ah, phooey." Donald replied. "He couldn't be trushted anyway."

Sora headed off into the direction Raziel had gone, but not before turning back to Donald again. "I'm going to go find him. When I bring him back, I expect you to be ready to apologize to him."

"What?!" Donald cried. Him, apologize to that creature?! Since when was Sora to boss over them, anyway?!

"I'll be right back! Goofy, Donald, wait there!" Sora called before running off.

"Okie dokie, Sora! Hyuk!" Goofy replied cheerfully, giving a friendly salute. Donald sat down and sulked as Sora ran off.

Why was he to blame for being cautious? It was obvious this 'Raziel' creature could not be trusted. He looked ready to disembowel them at any given moment. It was Donald's sworn duty to protect the wielder of the Keyblade, and protect him he shall! Sora just had to be so trusting just because this freak of nature supposedly 'saved his life'. But Donald knew better. He knew that a creature that looked like that couldn't be safe… right?

"Aw, phooey." Donald grumbled. He stood up and stomped off in another direction.

"Uhh, Donald? Where're ya goin'? Sora told us to wait here!" Goofy called him.

The hot-headed duck turned to Goofy. "Sho? Sinsh when was Shora the bossh of ush, anyway?" He continued to wander further into the forest. Goofy hesitantly followed.

*~*

A shady hooded figure stood over a basin of some sort of cauldron, staring intently into it. Candles surrounded the basin, illuminating the dark room, casting ominous shadows. Within the cauldron were reflections of a blue, half-corroded corpse walking away from a trio, a boy with brown spiky hair chasing after him, and a duck and a dog walking in opposite directions.

The hooded figure smiled malevolently, its long, bony fingers grasping a staff intently.

"Excellent… Divide and conquer…"

~to be continued…

Angel-chan: *looks at chapter* Hmm… This definitely changed a lot more from the original outline than I had intended… Meh, it's all good. I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry it's such a short chapter (especially after you all waited for SO long). Once again, I'm SO sorry for taking so long! *sweat drops* Please review, and no flames, otherwise, you know what'll happen.

FT: *glares at anyone who would dare flame*

Angel-chan: Hope you enjoyed this, and have a great day! ^_^