*CRASH*
"Ah!" Tsunami's cry echoed off the walls of the dark alley. She sat up looking around in the dim light. She was surrounded by dark buildings that loomed over her like silent giants. Tsunami pulled up the hood of her coat to protect her from the rain that was falling. She hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth trying to sort out what happened. Thunder rumbled from somewhere far away.
"I need to calm down" Tsunami told herself. "I need to find Jackson and Wesley." She was now talking only to hear her own voice. The world on which she had landed was peaceful. It reminded her of Destiny Island. She relaxed at the thought of home. In that small moment of pure silence a thought hit her.
"WESLEY!" she called. Her voice rang out over the buildings but only silence followed. She gazed up at the black sky trying to avoid getting rain in her eyes. "JACKSON!" she called again. Her ears were ringing with the sound of her own voice. "Guys?" she asked softly.
The rain seemed to quiet, and the thunder was just a dull accessional drone. Tsunami sat in complete silence. Soon she began to hate it; even the rain had become silent. Tsunami wanted to scream, to yell, to do anything to bring sound to this torturing silence.
"I'm letting my mind get the best of me" Tsunami said calmly. "Now this is as good a place as any to start looking for Jackson and Wesley. So it's a little quiet, I'll live. I can handle a little absences of sound. Great, I'm talking to myself." Tsunami muttered. As soon as she finished talking the silence returned. It pressed around her so that she thought she could touch it. It was suffocating her, pressing in on all sides. She gasped for air, but even her gasp was silent. The silence pulsed as if it were alive. She cried out in frustration but her voice seemed to be lost.
"I'm going mad," Tsunami said aloud. "I've finally cracked." The silence aloud those words to reach her ears; fearing it to be the truth Tsunami rocked faster. She put her head in her hands and stopped rocking. "No it can't be true." she said aloud again. The silence loomed over her in a disagreeing manner. It seemed to signal that she was going mad no matter what she told herself. "No, no, no" she told herself over and over.
Suddenly she scrambled to her feet. The silence pressed around her trying to keep her down. "Don't want me moving huh?" she asked the air. "Well tough!" she said grinning. "I really need to quit talking to myself." She took off running down the dark alleyways, pushing against the rain and wind, which had chosen this exact moment to push against her. Whatever she was heading toward, someone obviously didn't want her to see it. Her footsteps seemed to echo through the silence; she wasn't sure if she preferred the silence over the spooky clip-clop her feet were making. She reached a main road of some kind the lights on the buildings were on but they were all empty. She dropped to her knees giving into the thought that had been nagging at her.
"No," she said softly. "No, no, NO!" she screamed stomping her feet. But her mind refused to give in. She knew she had to believe what Wesley had said. "We'll always be with you," she whispered. "Yeah right." She fell to her hands and knees; the silence had returned. "No one's with me," she said her voice shaking violently. Tears streamed down her face, "I'm" she paused trying to force the words out of her mouth. "I'm" she said again, her arms wavered under her. "I'm alone" she said finally. The words tasted foul in her mouth and hurt her ears as they echoed through the silence.
Her head throbbed, her whole body shook, and her vision blurred. Tears continued stream down her face they came faster, and the stream was thicker and her ears hurt, she felt like she was going to puke. "I'm alone" she said again. The words were poison and she knew it. "I've only been at this Keyblade thing for a few hours and now I've already let everyone down. So much for believing in myself, I've let everyone down. I'm the worst Keyblade Master to ever live." She laughed darkly. Great I really have lost it. She thought to herself.
"Now I wouldn't say that. How could you let me down if I haven't even met you yet." said a voice from behind her. It was a girl's voice she had an implacable accent and she was horribly out of breath. Tsunami froze, either she had really lost it or she wasn't the only one on this planet. She refused to lift up her head; for fear that if she looked at the girl directly she would go away and leave poor Tsunami alone. The girl walled in front of Tsunami so Tsunami was staring at her shoes. "Hello is anyone alive down there?" the girl asked bending down to meet Tsunami's eyes. Tsunami blinked, when she opened her eyes she was no longer staring at a pair of white shoes, instead she was staring at a pair of deep brown eyes. Startled, Tsunami jumped to her feet. "Thought you were alive, but I wasn't quite sure." said the girl grinning.
"I'm sorry; you startled me that's all." Tsunami said so relieved to have a human to talk to that she hadn't even remembered to ask the girl her name. Tsunami studied the girl, she had black hair which was pulled back into multiple braids the braid then were pulled together with some kind of bandanna. She dressed in normal clothes, jeans and a black shirt.
"You run like a track star you know that right?" asked the girl still trying to catch her breath. She finally got her breathing rate back to normal. Extending her hand, she spoke again "I hope I didn't scare you the first time. I tried to say hello but you took off running before I had a chance." she grinned again. "I'm Demetra."
"Tsunami," said Tsunami shaking Demetra's hand. She seemed nice enough but Tsunami braced herself for the following comment.
"Tsunami? You mean like the title wave?" asked Demetra. Tsunami sighed there it was everyone had to ask her that. "Are all your family members, well what I mean is do they all have names like that?" Demetra asked.
"Yes," said Tsunami nodding. "My cousin's Typhoon. But we just call her Ty. But my family doesn't matter, what does is where am I?" Tsunami asked. Demetra laughed.
"How rude of me!" she exclaimed breaking up into fit's of hysterical laughter. "I'll tell you where you are if you tell me where you're going."
"Fine. Deal." said Tsunami though she really had no clue where she was headed. She thought about what she needed to do, well it was obvious what her main priority was... rescue Sora and save everyone. She remembered where the heartless had held Sora hostage for all these years, the place in her dream. The place had looked so familiar; she knew she had seen it before. It was hard to think with something digging into her side. She reached inside her coat and took out her History book. She clutched it tightly to her chest remembering what Wesley had said, 'Trust me you'll need it' his words echoed thorough her mind. Could this be why he gave it to her?
"Ok," said Demetra watching Tsunami with interest. Tsunami turned away, embarrassed at how that must have looked to Demetra. "You're in Twilight Town. This, believe it or not, was once one of the most advanced cities. It literally was bulging with life in fact we were so advanced, the Heartless left us alone the first time. But this time..." Demetra cut off, her muddy brown eyes glazed over with hurt.
"But what?" Tsunami asked. Whatever Demetra had to say might be important. Otherwise Tsunami wouldn't want to cause this potential friend pain by making her recall painful memories.
"Well, last time as everyone knows the Heartless were controlled by Ansem. Bit this time, well... they are controlled by the Invisibles. There are seven all together. Plus, their leader, so that makes eight. The Invisibles are much worse then Ansem. There's roomer that Ansem is an Invisible, but no one really knows." Demetra said.
"He is" said Tsunami without thinking. So there were eight people to worry about. Joy. Tsunami thought her mind wandering back to what Ansem had said. There weren't any clues there.
"What?" Demetra asked. Tsunami looked up. "What did you say?" asked Demetra. Tsunami shrugged pretending not to know what Demetra was talking about. "You said something I know it." Demetra said suspiciously.
"I asked what they did" Tsunami said quickly. Now it was Demetra's turn to be confused. "The Invisibles, you said they were worse then Ansem. What did they do?" asked Tsunami eagerly.
"I'm...not...sure," said Demetra slowly as if she wasn't sure what she was saying. Her answer shocked Tsunami. Demetra stared down at her feet Tsunami recognized the embarrassment signals.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Tsunami asked. "Do you not live here or something?" Until this point Tsunami had assumed Demetra lived here. She hadn't thought that Demetra might have arrived here like she did.
"No," said Demetra shaking her head from side to side so that the bead in her braids clicked together. "I live here. It's just... no it's stupid" Demetra turned her back to Tsunami. Tsunami walked in front of her as if urging her to continue. "One morning I woke up, and everyone was gone. Just like that. The silence almost drove me mad just like you. But we're not alone. Granny and Buddy are here. Now I told your turn." Demetra said her happiness returning.
"I'm" Tsunami paused still holding her History book. She had always been graceful and poised so she was stunned when the book slipped from her hands and fell open on the road. Tsunami looked at the picture that the book was showing. It was the place from her dream. She read the subtitle under the picture. It read: Hollow Bastion no abandoned this was once one of the most deadly places.
"What are you looking at?" asked Demetra curiously. Tsunami continued to stare at the book. She knew where she was headed.
"I'm going to Hollow Bastion." she announced returning the book to its rightful place in her jacket pocket. Demetra looked stunned, she tried several times to speak, but each time she closed he mouth unsuccessfully. The expression, Tsunami tried her best to read it; it was a mix of excitement, longing, thoughtfulness, regret, confusion, but most of all it was terror.
"Your either crazy, or the bravest person I've ever met." said Demetra in awe. She met Tsunami's eyes searching them for some kind of uncertainty or regret. She found both, but mostly uncertainty.
"Let's hope I'm the bravest." Tsunami said looking away to avoid Demetra's searching eyes. She knew it was too late; Demetra could read her like a book. Tsunami waited for laughter, for taunting, for some kind of cruelty but there was none. Demetra simply looked Tsunami in the eye and asked another question, which was quite the opposite of what Tsunami expected her to do.
"How are you getting there?" Demetra asked. Tsunami stood there speechless for a moment, she replayed Demetra's voice in her head searching it for a mocking tone; there was none to be found. Demetra had been dead serious.
"I'm not really sure. I haven't thought that far ahead yet." Tsunami admitted. Demetra paused thoughtfully; again she didn't laugh or mock Tsunami. Instead she grinned.
"I'll help you get a Gummi ship so you can go, but there's one condition." Demetra said. Tsunami nodded. "If I help you, you have to let me go with you. I can fight after all I have a weapon."
"I don't think that's a good idea." said Tsunami shaking her head. "If I take you that would be meddling and that's breaking the rules." It took a bit before Tsunami realized just who she sounded like, "I'm turning into Wesley!"
"Meddling? Oh, and I suppose you can drive a Gummi ship?" Demetra asked grossing her arms. Tsunami shrugged, it was true she had no idea how to drive a Gummi ship. Demetra had said she could fight, and judging by Twilight Town she had to be an expert fighter just to survive. Then it hit her. Tsunami hadn't seen a single Heartless for her entire visit.
"You can come, but a quick question, where are the Heartless now?" Tsunami asked. Demetra shrugged, then shuddered. Tsunami guessed she had a bad experience with the Heartless.
"Their usually in a spot not far from here. But that doesn't matter, what does is getting Buddy to build a ship. You wait here, I'll be right back." Demetra said racing off. Tsunami smirked, wait here? She asked herself. Demetra didn't know her very well. Of course, immediately after Demetra was out of sight Tsunami wandered off in the opposite direction. She continued feeling so much better that the silence failed to bother her. She reached some kind of plaza. There in front of her was a giant building with five screens on it. They were dark and lifeless so Tsunami was about to continue when suddenly the lights came on. The signs on the shops lit up in order the stream was heading straight toward the main building. Someone had turned on the power, but Demetra had said that the only ones in Twilight Town were Buddy, Granny, Tsunami, and herself. Tsunami closed her eyes listening carefully through the soft pitter-pat of the rain. The rain was ragged and uneven but somewhere above her there were solid even sounds like footsteps. She held her breath and her heart pounded in her ears. Those were footsteps!
"Huh?" Tsunami asked softly. She looked over her shoulder seeing another hooded person run across the roof tops. She jumped onto the wall pushing off and grabbing the edge of the roof. She flipped up and followed the figure. She raced after them, but they made an impossibly high jump onto the top of the building with the screens. The screens came to life displaying pictures of Kairi, Sora, Riku, Ansem, and strange hooded people.
"He's trying to psyche you out!" called Demetra from below. There was a man and an elderly woman next to her. The man was looking at Tsunami like she was crazy.
"Typhoon! Tornado! Earthquake! Whatever natural disaster you are get down here!" the man called. Tsunami jumped down.
"He has our ship ready." said Demetra "I'll drive." she said seeing Tsunami's strange look. "Next time don't go off fighting an Invisible without me. Especially not him. He has a Keyblade like you, or at least I'm assuming you have a Keyblade. If you don't then you're a suicidal nut case and you just don't seem suicidal to me."
"I do," she said vaguely. She'd give Demetra something to think about on the ride. She got in the Gummi ship behind Demetra. She took a deep breath there was no turning back now.
"Ah!" Tsunami's cry echoed off the walls of the dark alley. She sat up looking around in the dim light. She was surrounded by dark buildings that loomed over her like silent giants. Tsunami pulled up the hood of her coat to protect her from the rain that was falling. She hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth trying to sort out what happened. Thunder rumbled from somewhere far away.
"I need to calm down" Tsunami told herself. "I need to find Jackson and Wesley." She was now talking only to hear her own voice. The world on which she had landed was peaceful. It reminded her of Destiny Island. She relaxed at the thought of home. In that small moment of pure silence a thought hit her.
"WESLEY!" she called. Her voice rang out over the buildings but only silence followed. She gazed up at the black sky trying to avoid getting rain in her eyes. "JACKSON!" she called again. Her ears were ringing with the sound of her own voice. "Guys?" she asked softly.
The rain seemed to quiet, and the thunder was just a dull accessional drone. Tsunami sat in complete silence. Soon she began to hate it; even the rain had become silent. Tsunami wanted to scream, to yell, to do anything to bring sound to this torturing silence.
"I'm letting my mind get the best of me" Tsunami said calmly. "Now this is as good a place as any to start looking for Jackson and Wesley. So it's a little quiet, I'll live. I can handle a little absences of sound. Great, I'm talking to myself." Tsunami muttered. As soon as she finished talking the silence returned. It pressed around her so that she thought she could touch it. It was suffocating her, pressing in on all sides. She gasped for air, but even her gasp was silent. The silence pulsed as if it were alive. She cried out in frustration but her voice seemed to be lost.
"I'm going mad," Tsunami said aloud. "I've finally cracked." The silence aloud those words to reach her ears; fearing it to be the truth Tsunami rocked faster. She put her head in her hands and stopped rocking. "No it can't be true." she said aloud again. The silence loomed over her in a disagreeing manner. It seemed to signal that she was going mad no matter what she told herself. "No, no, no" she told herself over and over.
Suddenly she scrambled to her feet. The silence pressed around her trying to keep her down. "Don't want me moving huh?" she asked the air. "Well tough!" she said grinning. "I really need to quit talking to myself." She took off running down the dark alleyways, pushing against the rain and wind, which had chosen this exact moment to push against her. Whatever she was heading toward, someone obviously didn't want her to see it. Her footsteps seemed to echo through the silence; she wasn't sure if she preferred the silence over the spooky clip-clop her feet were making. She reached a main road of some kind the lights on the buildings were on but they were all empty. She dropped to her knees giving into the thought that had been nagging at her.
"No," she said softly. "No, no, NO!" she screamed stomping her feet. But her mind refused to give in. She knew she had to believe what Wesley had said. "We'll always be with you," she whispered. "Yeah right." She fell to her hands and knees; the silence had returned. "No one's with me," she said her voice shaking violently. Tears streamed down her face, "I'm" she paused trying to force the words out of her mouth. "I'm" she said again, her arms wavered under her. "I'm alone" she said finally. The words tasted foul in her mouth and hurt her ears as they echoed through the silence.
Her head throbbed, her whole body shook, and her vision blurred. Tears continued stream down her face they came faster, and the stream was thicker and her ears hurt, she felt like she was going to puke. "I'm alone" she said again. The words were poison and she knew it. "I've only been at this Keyblade thing for a few hours and now I've already let everyone down. So much for believing in myself, I've let everyone down. I'm the worst Keyblade Master to ever live." She laughed darkly. Great I really have lost it. She thought to herself.
"Now I wouldn't say that. How could you let me down if I haven't even met you yet." said a voice from behind her. It was a girl's voice she had an implacable accent and she was horribly out of breath. Tsunami froze, either she had really lost it or she wasn't the only one on this planet. She refused to lift up her head; for fear that if she looked at the girl directly she would go away and leave poor Tsunami alone. The girl walled in front of Tsunami so Tsunami was staring at her shoes. "Hello is anyone alive down there?" the girl asked bending down to meet Tsunami's eyes. Tsunami blinked, when she opened her eyes she was no longer staring at a pair of white shoes, instead she was staring at a pair of deep brown eyes. Startled, Tsunami jumped to her feet. "Thought you were alive, but I wasn't quite sure." said the girl grinning.
"I'm sorry; you startled me that's all." Tsunami said so relieved to have a human to talk to that she hadn't even remembered to ask the girl her name. Tsunami studied the girl, she had black hair which was pulled back into multiple braids the braid then were pulled together with some kind of bandanna. She dressed in normal clothes, jeans and a black shirt.
"You run like a track star you know that right?" asked the girl still trying to catch her breath. She finally got her breathing rate back to normal. Extending her hand, she spoke again "I hope I didn't scare you the first time. I tried to say hello but you took off running before I had a chance." she grinned again. "I'm Demetra."
"Tsunami," said Tsunami shaking Demetra's hand. She seemed nice enough but Tsunami braced herself for the following comment.
"Tsunami? You mean like the title wave?" asked Demetra. Tsunami sighed there it was everyone had to ask her that. "Are all your family members, well what I mean is do they all have names like that?" Demetra asked.
"Yes," said Tsunami nodding. "My cousin's Typhoon. But we just call her Ty. But my family doesn't matter, what does is where am I?" Tsunami asked. Demetra laughed.
"How rude of me!" she exclaimed breaking up into fit's of hysterical laughter. "I'll tell you where you are if you tell me where you're going."
"Fine. Deal." said Tsunami though she really had no clue where she was headed. She thought about what she needed to do, well it was obvious what her main priority was... rescue Sora and save everyone. She remembered where the heartless had held Sora hostage for all these years, the place in her dream. The place had looked so familiar; she knew she had seen it before. It was hard to think with something digging into her side. She reached inside her coat and took out her History book. She clutched it tightly to her chest remembering what Wesley had said, 'Trust me you'll need it' his words echoed thorough her mind. Could this be why he gave it to her?
"Ok," said Demetra watching Tsunami with interest. Tsunami turned away, embarrassed at how that must have looked to Demetra. "You're in Twilight Town. This, believe it or not, was once one of the most advanced cities. It literally was bulging with life in fact we were so advanced, the Heartless left us alone the first time. But this time..." Demetra cut off, her muddy brown eyes glazed over with hurt.
"But what?" Tsunami asked. Whatever Demetra had to say might be important. Otherwise Tsunami wouldn't want to cause this potential friend pain by making her recall painful memories.
"Well, last time as everyone knows the Heartless were controlled by Ansem. Bit this time, well... they are controlled by the Invisibles. There are seven all together. Plus, their leader, so that makes eight. The Invisibles are much worse then Ansem. There's roomer that Ansem is an Invisible, but no one really knows." Demetra said.
"He is" said Tsunami without thinking. So there were eight people to worry about. Joy. Tsunami thought her mind wandering back to what Ansem had said. There weren't any clues there.
"What?" Demetra asked. Tsunami looked up. "What did you say?" asked Demetra. Tsunami shrugged pretending not to know what Demetra was talking about. "You said something I know it." Demetra said suspiciously.
"I asked what they did" Tsunami said quickly. Now it was Demetra's turn to be confused. "The Invisibles, you said they were worse then Ansem. What did they do?" asked Tsunami eagerly.
"I'm...not...sure," said Demetra slowly as if she wasn't sure what she was saying. Her answer shocked Tsunami. Demetra stared down at her feet Tsunami recognized the embarrassment signals.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Tsunami asked. "Do you not live here or something?" Until this point Tsunami had assumed Demetra lived here. She hadn't thought that Demetra might have arrived here like she did.
"No," said Demetra shaking her head from side to side so that the bead in her braids clicked together. "I live here. It's just... no it's stupid" Demetra turned her back to Tsunami. Tsunami walked in front of her as if urging her to continue. "One morning I woke up, and everyone was gone. Just like that. The silence almost drove me mad just like you. But we're not alone. Granny and Buddy are here. Now I told your turn." Demetra said her happiness returning.
"I'm" Tsunami paused still holding her History book. She had always been graceful and poised so she was stunned when the book slipped from her hands and fell open on the road. Tsunami looked at the picture that the book was showing. It was the place from her dream. She read the subtitle under the picture. It read: Hollow Bastion no abandoned this was once one of the most deadly places.
"What are you looking at?" asked Demetra curiously. Tsunami continued to stare at the book. She knew where she was headed.
"I'm going to Hollow Bastion." she announced returning the book to its rightful place in her jacket pocket. Demetra looked stunned, she tried several times to speak, but each time she closed he mouth unsuccessfully. The expression, Tsunami tried her best to read it; it was a mix of excitement, longing, thoughtfulness, regret, confusion, but most of all it was terror.
"Your either crazy, or the bravest person I've ever met." said Demetra in awe. She met Tsunami's eyes searching them for some kind of uncertainty or regret. She found both, but mostly uncertainty.
"Let's hope I'm the bravest." Tsunami said looking away to avoid Demetra's searching eyes. She knew it was too late; Demetra could read her like a book. Tsunami waited for laughter, for taunting, for some kind of cruelty but there was none. Demetra simply looked Tsunami in the eye and asked another question, which was quite the opposite of what Tsunami expected her to do.
"How are you getting there?" Demetra asked. Tsunami stood there speechless for a moment, she replayed Demetra's voice in her head searching it for a mocking tone; there was none to be found. Demetra had been dead serious.
"I'm not really sure. I haven't thought that far ahead yet." Tsunami admitted. Demetra paused thoughtfully; again she didn't laugh or mock Tsunami. Instead she grinned.
"I'll help you get a Gummi ship so you can go, but there's one condition." Demetra said. Tsunami nodded. "If I help you, you have to let me go with you. I can fight after all I have a weapon."
"I don't think that's a good idea." said Tsunami shaking her head. "If I take you that would be meddling and that's breaking the rules." It took a bit before Tsunami realized just who she sounded like, "I'm turning into Wesley!"
"Meddling? Oh, and I suppose you can drive a Gummi ship?" Demetra asked grossing her arms. Tsunami shrugged, it was true she had no idea how to drive a Gummi ship. Demetra had said she could fight, and judging by Twilight Town she had to be an expert fighter just to survive. Then it hit her. Tsunami hadn't seen a single Heartless for her entire visit.
"You can come, but a quick question, where are the Heartless now?" Tsunami asked. Demetra shrugged, then shuddered. Tsunami guessed she had a bad experience with the Heartless.
"Their usually in a spot not far from here. But that doesn't matter, what does is getting Buddy to build a ship. You wait here, I'll be right back." Demetra said racing off. Tsunami smirked, wait here? She asked herself. Demetra didn't know her very well. Of course, immediately after Demetra was out of sight Tsunami wandered off in the opposite direction. She continued feeling so much better that the silence failed to bother her. She reached some kind of plaza. There in front of her was a giant building with five screens on it. They were dark and lifeless so Tsunami was about to continue when suddenly the lights came on. The signs on the shops lit up in order the stream was heading straight toward the main building. Someone had turned on the power, but Demetra had said that the only ones in Twilight Town were Buddy, Granny, Tsunami, and herself. Tsunami closed her eyes listening carefully through the soft pitter-pat of the rain. The rain was ragged and uneven but somewhere above her there were solid even sounds like footsteps. She held her breath and her heart pounded in her ears. Those were footsteps!
"Huh?" Tsunami asked softly. She looked over her shoulder seeing another hooded person run across the roof tops. She jumped onto the wall pushing off and grabbing the edge of the roof. She flipped up and followed the figure. She raced after them, but they made an impossibly high jump onto the top of the building with the screens. The screens came to life displaying pictures of Kairi, Sora, Riku, Ansem, and strange hooded people.
"He's trying to psyche you out!" called Demetra from below. There was a man and an elderly woman next to her. The man was looking at Tsunami like she was crazy.
"Typhoon! Tornado! Earthquake! Whatever natural disaster you are get down here!" the man called. Tsunami jumped down.
"He has our ship ready." said Demetra "I'll drive." she said seeing Tsunami's strange look. "Next time don't go off fighting an Invisible without me. Especially not him. He has a Keyblade like you, or at least I'm assuming you have a Keyblade. If you don't then you're a suicidal nut case and you just don't seem suicidal to me."
"I do," she said vaguely. She'd give Demetra something to think about on the ride. She got in the Gummi ship behind Demetra. She took a deep breath there was no turning back now.