CLANG!
The sound of metal on metal reverberated against the walls of the cavern, sword on Keyblade. Grunting with exertion, Sora found his blade locked against Leon's.
"Great. Blades locked. Do you have to use that Keyblade?"
Sora sat down abruptly, the spar coming to an end. "Yes!"
After being separated from Kari, Sora had refused to use any other Keyblade except Oathkeeper- a silent tribute of sorts. Unfortunately, this also meant that the intricate designs were perfect for a sword to get snarled in. Tugging, Sora tried with no avail to untangle the two weapons.
"Aw man! You guys are at it again?" Yuffie's voice echoed down the corridor. "Honestly. Do you even stop to eat?"
"Yuffie..."
But she was on a roll. "You know, there is more to life than fighting! Even the Great Ninja Yuffie knows how to balance work and play. The best advice-"
Sora gave a cry of delight as the two blades finally came free. "Yessss! Come on, Leon. Let's get back to me kicking your butt."
Smirking, Leon picked up his Gunblade. "You kicking my butt? Last I checked, you were sliding across the floor."
"DID YOU TWO LISTEN TO ANYTHING I JUST SAID?"
Leon and Sora looked at each other. "Ummmm...no."
"What's with all the screaming?" Aerith descended down the stairs gracefully, playing with her braid. Yuffie, too fed up to answer, stomped up the stairs in a huff, muttering about how testosterone was the curse of the ages.
"So there's Heartless activity where?"
Cid looked up from his meal. "Heartless still? They never know when to quit, do they?"
Aerith looked at the latest report from Agrabah. "Apparently the Heartless were spotted at the bazar a few days ago, attacking civilians."
"Any casualties?"
"No, but enough to get the city spooked."
Without another word, Sora got up from the table, setting his plate still half-full of food on the counter. "Looks like I'm working late tonight."
Leon looked at him. "Need help? I mean, it'd go faster with two-"
"I can do it." And he left, slamming the door behind him. Yuffie sighed.
"Poor Sora. A year without Kairi has changed him, doncha think?"
Wordlessly, Leon nodded. "Kairi's heart inside him gave him strength. Without her, it's harder to keep going." He paused. "Especially for a year."
Aerith pushed back her plate, sighing discontentedly. "For all of our sakes, I hope the Moogles find out something soon about the Destiny Island's whereabouts. Any longer, and I think Sora might just take off the gummi ship and fly around trying to find it himself."
Cid looked at her. "Don't even joke about that. The ship would run out of gas in two days."
"What makes you think I'm joking?"
Sora downshifted the gummi, setting a warp path to Agrabah. Flying this thing is a lot harder than Donald made it look. It had taken him three days just to get the stupid contraption flying right. Luckily, Geppetto and Cid had helped him learn how to fly the ship in Donald and Goofy's absence.
He sighed. Sora knew he had been gloomy for the last year, but he couldn't help it. With Kairi gone, it felt like a piece of him was missing in action. Her heart- and later, Kairi herself- had given Sora the strength to keep fighting. It was getting harder to continue on fighting the remnant of Heartless that seemed to multiply by two every time he got one. They were worried for him.
They probably think I'm near a breaking point or something. Yeah, well maybe he was. Sora couldn't really tell his emotions apart anymore, except when he was studying with the Moogles to find Destiny Islands, or when he was putting his concentration into sparring with Leon, Cloud, or whoever was available at the time. But he wasn't stupid- Sora didn't plan on going on the renegade-I'm-going-to-save-the-world-and-no-one-will-get-in-my-way, caution-to-the-winds deal. That wouldn't help Kairi, and he knew it.
Sora forced his thoughts back. It wasn't time to be sensitive. It was time to be the Keyblade Master the worlds were counting on.
He blasted off.
