Chapter Two – He Looks Like a Heartless
Squall watched the little blip onscreen as it moved quickly, and he knew that it was Yuffie in their original gummi ship. Well, he knew for sure it was the gummi ship. It was just the fact that Yuffie couldn't be found that they all assumed she was using it.
There was something really strange about what she'd just done. Yuffie wasn't the type of person to go off and steal a ship because she was bored. He'd imagined she'd probably play with her materia somewhere in the halls of Hollow Bastion, not that it worked very well. Her materia was the only thing Yuffie had from her past world, and now that it had gone, their magic didn't seem to work. There was no real reason for her to keep it, but she wanted something to remember her world by…
Wish I had something like that, a voice said in the back of his mind. No, I don't wish I had anything, he thought. I left all that behind when I came here.
There was a sudden beeping sound, and Squall looked down at his monitor again. The blip that had been the gummi ship had stopped moving. It had finally landed on a world, and Squall let out a sigh of relief. It would be much easier to find her now. He pressed a few buttons, and the ship scanned the world, and some words appeared on the screen before him.
"Kuzcotopia?" Squall muttered as he read the name. What would Yuffie want to do on a world with such a stupid name? He sighed, and put the ship into overdrive, determined to find her as soon as possible.
It was raining when he landed, and the gummi ship was nowhere in sight. He was just outside a dark looking city, the perfect place for some Heartless to hang around. It was set high on a mountain, and the tall buildings loomed down at him, particularly the one set in the centre of the city. He suspected it was a castle of some sort; it was definitely nothing like the castle in Hollow Bastion. This seemed to be the most likely place Yuffie would have gone too, cities like this were normally bustling, filled with all kinds of stuff that she could look at to entertain herself. She'd probably want to have looked in that castle too. She loved to explore everything around her.
Squall entered the city, expecting to find market stalls and a whole crowd of people wandering the streets. But it was empty. He looked around, wondering where everyone could be, when a splash of water hit his face. It was raining. Of course it would be stupid to set up a stall or hang around outside when everything was getting wet. There was probably some shelter somewhere, where some of the braver merchants had set up. He only hoped that the Heartless had not gotten to this world just yet. They were attracted to the Keyblade, so maybe Sora hadn't been here…
Still, the silence (save for the rain falling) was enough to make him wonder.
As he turned a corner, he heard someone cry out. Instinctively he pulled out his gunblade, and ran toward the source of the cry, and turned into an alleyway to find a young boy bending over a girl.
"Hey!" He called out, and the boy turned to him, only it wasn't a boy, it was a Heartless! Instantly Squall ran forward, raising his gunblade in the air and was ready to strike it down.
"Wait! I won't let you hurt her!" The Heartless called out, and Squall stopped in his tracks. Heartless didn't speak. And they sure didn't try to protect people.
"Who are you?" He spat, holding his gunblade forward, and the Heartless took a step back.
"P – Please! Don't hurt us! We're just trying to find our friend!" Now Squall was really confused. Heartless didn't have friends! They only knew one thing, and that was to take the hearts of others.
"This is a trap." Squall said bitterly, not lowering his gunblade. "What did you do to this girl?"
"I didn't do anything to Dagger!" It cried out, and for the first time Squall noticed tears in it's bright yellow eyes. Heartless didn't cry. There was something strange about this Heartless.
The girl stirred suddenly, and she turned to the Heartless before her. "Vivi?" She asked, and it suddenly hugged her. She had a confused look on her face, but she brought her arms around him, then looked up at Squall.
"Who are you? Please … just leave us alone."
Squall lowered his gunblade. "What are you doing to that Heartless?" He felt more confused than ever before. He couldn't understand why she would hug that creature back, or why it even cared about her in the first place. She blinked up at him, returning his confused gaze.
"Heartless?" She asked, then stood up, holding the Heartless beside her like a child. "You mean the ones that look like Vivi?"
Squall blinked down at her, and a look of realisation suddenly crossed her face. "No. Vivi's not one of those shadows that steals hearts. He's just like you or me! He wouldn't hurt anyone!"
"Okay, okay!" Squall said, sheathing his blade. "He's not a Heartless. He just looks a hell of a lot like one." Vivi clutched onto the girl tighter and she turned to pat him on the head. He heard her whisper something to him, and he suddenly let go, looking up at Squall. There was something haunting about his eyes, though they resembled that of a heartless he could see they were full of emotion – fear and sadness. It was definitely not a look the Heartless had.
"Who are you?" He asked and the girl blinked up at him.
"My name is Dagger. And this is Vivi."
"Do you know where everyone else is?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"I was hoping you could tell us. This entire town is deserted."
Squall made a face. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "So what are you two doing here then?"
"We're looking for someone." Dagger said. "But he's not anywhere in this town. Even the castle seemed deserted."
"So there's no one here? At all?"
"I just told you that, didn't I?" She said, and Squall narrowed his eyes at her.
"All right. Whatever." He said, and began to walk away from them. There had to be somewhere else for him to go on this world. Yuffie's ship had landed here, and he knew she wouldn't have left the world just yet.
"Wait!" Dagger called out, and Squall turned back to look at her. "What are you doing here?"
"That's really none of your business." He replied, and continued to walk away.
"Hey!" She called out, running after him and grabbing his arm. "We told you why we were here! The least you could do is tell us! You scared my friend here, so you owe us something!"
Squall looked down at her, suddenly annoyed. She reminded him of a spoilt brat, as if she'd been brought up like a princess all her life. "It doesn't matter why I'm here. I'm just looking for a friend."
"Really?" Vivi piped up, standing behind them. "Maybe we can help you. We can't find our friend either…"
"I don't need any help." Squall said, shaking Dagger off his arm, and taking a step away.
"Fine then." Dagger said angrily, and Squall turned back to look at her. "We don't need help from people who go around and try to kill someone just because they look like something else. Come on Vivi. We can find him on our own."
She grabbed the boy's hand and stormed past Squall, and he rolled his eyes. "Brats." He muttered, though he couldn't help but wonder why that boy looked so much like a Heartless. In any case, he still had to find Yuffie, and he had no time to worry about a bunch of whiny kids.
He slowly exited the town, staring up at the castle as he left. There was something dark and foreboding about it that sent shivers down his spine, and he only hoped that Yuffie had been wise enough to keep away from there. As he left, he noticed what looked like a small village not too far away from the town, and he began to make his way toward it. Maybe someone there had seen Yuffie.
He reached a bridge that looked old and rickety. The fact that it was raining didn't help much, as the wood was mouldy and on the verge of breaking. But this was the fastest way to the village, and Squall had to take his chances.
He'd barely made it halfway when there was a scream from below him, and he looked down to see a group of Heartless emerging from the ground, encircling an animal with a long neck.
"Hey Heartless!" He called out, drawing his gunblade. Their attention was drawn to him, and the animal was suddenly forgotten as they disappeared into the ground and began to climb the wall. Squall watched carefully as a Heartless emerged, and he swung his blade, cutting away at it easily. Another came from the wall and he swung again, and he managed to cut most of them down with ease. Then they stopped, and Squall looked around, confused. Had he defeated them all? He was sure there had been much more than that.
As if his thoughts had been heard, a bunch of Heartless emerged from both sides of the wall, and Squall was suddenly trapped in the middle of them. He swung his blade quickly but where he cut down one Heartless another would appear. One scratched at his arm and another swiped at his leg. He could feel the blood trickling down his body as a group of Heartless became interested in his blade, and were doing their best to knock it from his grasp.
Then suddenly, the Heartless disappeared, and he turned to find one on the other side of the ridge. It had its claw against the rope, and Squall had just enough time to straighten himself before it cut, and the bridge collapsed, sending Squall to the ground. He landed on something hard beneath him, and he looked up to see the Heartless looking over the cliff. This wasn't good. The Heartless seemed to be learning how to fight their battles, rather than just going aimlessly for the victim's heart. They'd distracted him and caused him to fall, and had even tried to get his weapon away from him.
This really wasn't good.
There was a muffled cry beneath him, and Squall jumped to his feet. He'd landed on the animal that the Heartless had been trying to attack in the first place. It was a llama.
"Pshaw! You're so heavy! Ever heard of dieting?" The llama spat, and Squall blinked at it in confusion.
"You can talk." He said, and the llama got to its feet.
"Of course I can talk! I'm the emperor of this place!"