Sclartaran Productions Presents

A Talanane Creation

Kingdom Hearts Trinity Sight

Episode VII: Road to Munchkin City.

Standard Disclaimer

The following is a work of fan-fiction. This means it contains characters, locations and other things drawn from various sources such as books, movies, television shows, anime and video games, none of which I own the rights to. In this episode they are Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories, by Square-Enix Inc and the Wizard of Oz Series, originally created by L. Frank Baum.

The next morning, Sora was once again ravenously hungry, as evidenced by his growling stomach. He got up, a little steadier than he had been the night before, but still he had not yet recovered fully. Looking around, the young man desperately searched for signs that any food remained from the previous evening. There was none.

"Hungry!" he said aloud to the air.

Back in the front hall of the Witch's castle, Donald and Goofy also awakened from their sleep, and as Sora they were also hungry, although to a lesser degree. There were a few rounds of 'No, you have it!', played between them as they tried to decide who got to eat the food remaining in the bag, but in the end they decided to share it. Unexpectedly, when they ate it, the half rations more than satisfied. In fact both Donald and Goofy were stuffed.

"Man, I don't know where this stuff came from, but it sure hit the spot!" Goofy said as he rubbed his slightly distended abdomen.

"Yeah Goofy" Donald replied. "It's weird, like there was something magic about it."

"Uh, Magic?" the dog man asked.

"Magic food you numbskull?" the duck quacked back at him, swinging his magic staff for emphasis.

"Oh, so who put it there?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know." Donald answered. "That's what worries me."

"What do you mean?" his friend asked.

Donald gave out a little quack of exasperation at Goofy's denseness.

"What?" Goofy said.

"Oh never mind!" Donald told him. "Let's just get out of here!"

As Tin Man returned to the camp, he found Sora standing near the fire looking a little dejected and holding his stomach.

"What's wrong?" Tin Man asked the young man.

"Hungry, I'm so hungry" Sora replied.

"Well, I'm sorry. I know that you haven't been eating well lately. You wouldn't have tried to raid the Witch's orchard yesterday if you were. Here, I have a few nuts and some berries I've scrounged up for you. It will have to do until we get to town."

Sora took the offered food and wolfed down the berries immediately, almost choking. Then he looked at the nuts, saw that they were still in their shells, then looking around spotted a medium sized stone that would work as a nutcracker. Going over to it, he picked it up, sat down and went to work. A few minutes later he had the nuts shelled and eaten.

After he had finished, Sora looked up at Tin Man and said simply, "Still hungry", even though the meager meal had taken enough of the edge off so that the hunger was no longer incapacitating.

"Like I said, I'm sorry." Tin Man apologized again. "We'll get you something really good when we get to town. You'll just have to hold on!"

Sora looked back at him and replied. "How long?" he asked.

"About two or three days, given your condition." the Tin Man answered.

Sora almost groaned, placing a hand on his abdomen. Tin Man had nothing to add though, and since apologizing would be useless, he simply moved off slowly toward the nearby road.

A couple of hours later, they had to stop, for the Keyblade Master had weakened again to the point to where he had trouble walking. Looking at him, Tin Man noticed and could almost swear that he has actually thinner than he had been earlier.

"It's just my imagination, I hope." He thought to himself. "I know he hasn't been eating well, but people, those of flesh and blood, don't get skinny all of a sudden, unless."

"Sora" he addressed the boy.

"Yes?" the young man replied from his resting position on the ground.

"While you were in the Witch's Castle, did you touch anything unusual?"

"Unusual?" Sora asked back.

"Well, yes." Tin Man confirmed.

"I don't remember." the boy replied.

"Well, it was just a though I had." Tin Man finished. He didn't have the heart to tell him what he thought might have happened to him.

Sora just looked at him, not comprehending.

Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy were puffing along at a decent clip, unknowingly headed off in the opposite direction from where Sora and Tin Man were bound, headed toward the forest. Pausing for a short rest, they sat themselves down on the edge of the road.

"Huff Huff!" the Duck panted. "My age must be catching up to me Goofy, I'm beat!"

"Same here!" the Dog Man replied. After a pause, during which he happened to notice that Donald's tunic seemed to be tighter than usual, Goofy continued. "I don't think you're old Donald. You're just getting a little chubby around the middle, if you know what I mean."

"Quack!" the duck exclaimed, glaring at him. "I'm not fat! You're the chubby one!"

Goofy would have argued the point, but he just happened to look down at himself and realized that it was true. "Gosh, how did that happen?" he asked rhetorically.

"You ate too much, that's what happened!" Donald told him, swinging his magic staff for emphasis.

"Well so did you, apparently!" Goofy quipped back.

"Quack-Quack, so what!" the duck spat back at him.

"We just need to get some more exercise is all, I be thinking." the dog-man stated.

"Exercise!" the duck quacked. "What do you think we've been doing!" referring to the walking they had done to get that far.

"Well yeah." Goofy replied. "We just have to do some more of that."

"Well, not right now, I'm tired!" Donald retorted.

"Well fine, just sit there then!" Goofy spat back at him, sitting down himself.

A little later that afternoon, Sora collapsed, no longer able to walk, and now noticeably emaciated. "I know that I am not one for deep thinking." Tin Man thought to himself. "Thinking has always been Scarecrow's thing, even when he thought he didn't even have a Brain. But I definitely think that this is the result of some kind of spell or curse, being as the boy had been inside the old Witch's Castle." With that thought, Tin Man quickened his pace, determined to get Sora to help as soon as possible, despite the moans of discomfort that the young man emitted.

Fortunately, a little while later, as Tin Man was rounding the bend, he could see in the distance a large farm cart, loaded down with produce, destined for the market in Munchkin City. It wasn't so fortunate for the farmer however, since the cart had lost one of its wheels and was now stuck in the middle of the road, while he and his son were desperately trying to repair it.

As he approached the two, carrying Sora on his back, Tin Man realized that he knew the man from a long time ago. Before he could call out to him, the farmer and his son heard the clanking noise of his approaching footsteps and turned in his direction.

"Oh! If it isn't old 'Ozzie'!" the farmer called out to him.

"Hello, Jeritt!" Tin Man called back, continuing his approach to them.

"It's been a long time." Tin Man replied. "And don't call me Ozzie!" he added. "I gave up that name a long time ago."

"Oh Ozzie, you know that incident wasn't your fault!" the farmer told him.

"It was and you know it!" Tin Man replied back. "In any case, we don't have time for that! My friend here is in trouble, due to something that happened to him inside the old Witch's Castle!" He turned his head to indicate Sora, whom he was carrying draped across his shoulders.

The farmer looked up at Sora, seeing how thin his face had become. "He certainly doesn't look well, does he? Needs some feeding up, he does."

"The effect of the curse, I think." Tin Man said.

"Yes, you did mention something about the old Castle, didn't you Ozzie." the farmer replied. "In any case, why don't you set him down someplace and I will see if there's any juice or something like that in our lunch sack. Then we'll take him back to the house later to rest."

"Well, thank you Jeritt." Tin Man said, accepting the farmer's offer. "I didn't know if Sora would have lasted until I could get him to town, the way he is now. Meanwhile, I will help you fix your wheel, so that we can get going."

"It's a deal!" the farmer said, extending his hand to his old friend. Then turning to his son, Jerritt Grenville called out "Nathan!"

"Yes Sir!" the farmer's son replied.

"You heard what I said a minute ago, didn't you!" the farmer answered back. "Go get one of those jugs of Bingleberry juice from the back, all right!"

"Yes Father!" the boy replied as he went off to fetch the jug.

Across the Multiverse, back in Castle Oblivion, Namine had eluded the Organization's lackeys for the time being, although they had spotted her a couple of times, so that they knew somebody was in fact there. Still, Namine had found a moment to rest and to worry about those who had been in her charge. Were they still alive? Had they found and eaten the special meals that she had prepared to offset the side effects of their long sleep?

Then, the moment of rest was over, as she could hear the approach of some of the large armored Heartless as they were moving along a nearby corridor. Slipping out of her hiding spot, she slunk away down a side passage too small for them to fit into. She had to find a 'safe area' soon, a place that the Heartless would not enter, for she was nearing complete exhaustion. Namine wasn't even sure she had the energy left to use her mental powers, in case one of the Human or Humanoid officers showed up.

"Oh Sora." she thought. "Please be all right!"

Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy were awakened from and unintended nap by a loud roaring a little way off. Stirring, Donald said "Goofy, don't make so much noise, I'm trying to sleep."

"Huh?" Goofy replied. "Noise, I don't hear any noise."

The roaring sounded again.

"Quack!" Donald said.

"Oh that noise!" Goofy said simultaneously. "Sounds more like a roaring than a noise." he added.

Getting up and facing his friend, Donald told him. "Just cut it out already!"

"I'm not doing it!" Goofy said truthfully.

In the meantime, since the two of them were engaged in their argument, they did not notice a rustling in the nearby bushes, a sign that the roar's true owner was approaching them. A moment later the roar sounded one last time, right next to them, scaring them almost right out of their skins. They spun right toward the source and saw the dark golden mane, streaked with gray and scarred face of a large and venerable Lion.

Author's Note: I know that this update has taken awhile. I am sorry and I know that there is no suitable excuse, in the view of you the reader. I've just been busy doing other things, as we all are from time to time.

Cordially Yours, Talanane.