Of Red and Yellow

"Hold on! Don't shoot!" yelled Kylia into the speaker that would hopefully transfer the message to the big, huge ship that was threatening Akara's ship. The speakers clicked.

"Are you guys... Heartless?" asked a young sounding male voice.

"Of course not... I hope. What are Heartless?" answered Akara.

"Uh, they don't sound like Heartless," said a goofy voice.

"Of course not!" quacked another voice, barely understandable. "Heartless can't talk!"

"Then they're probably to be trusted," said the young male again.

"What are they doing flying around in space like a Heartless, then?" argued the non understandable voice.

"We're flying around in space, too!"

"Ya know, Donald, Sora has a point," the goofy voice said again.

"Shut up, Goofy!" yelled the quacker, probably the one named Donald, followed by a shout of "Thunder," and a yelp. Kylia winced.

"So, are you Heartless, or not?" asked the male voice.

"As I said before, of course not!" yelled Akara in the speaker. "Do you people or... things... need to see us to believe us? Then turn on your video monitor!"

"Um, I knew that!" said the voice sheepishly, and the video monitor turned on, showing a duck and a dog in clothing, and a boy of fourteen with spiky brown hair and a red jumpsuit. "See, Donald! They aren't Heartless!" The duck crossed his arms and turned away from the screen. "It isn't often we see another human out here. Wait, did we ever see a human out here?"

"I don't think so, Sora," said the dog.

"Well, this being the only human without scarlet eyes I've seen in my life, I'm very welcome to meet you," said Akara gratefully after noticing that these people were on her side.

"Scarlet eyes? I knew there was something fishy about those two!" quacked the duck madly. "They're evil! They're lying to gain our trust! Shoot them down!" Akara loathed the duck instantly.

"What are you, the duck of Doom?" asked Akara sarcastically.

"She's right, Donald. You're acting like a shop vendor catching a thief!" laughed Sora.

"Do you have something to get me onto your ship? My passage on this vessel is limited," asked Akara.

"Yeah, hold on. I think Cid put a transporter or something on here..." Sora said, and the screen closed.

"I guess this is goodbye, Akara," said Kylia sadly. "I can't leave Cameron's ship behind. I owe him too much."

The speakers buzzled, and Sora's voice said, "Sorry for eavesdropping. You forgot to turn your broadcast off. I'll tell you something I've heard before. 'There are many worlds, but they share the same sky. One sky, one destiny.' I think it means that wherever you are, you and your friends know the same sky. Your sky is no different than my sky, or Donald and Goofy's. We can look up at the sky and know that our friends are looking at the same sky. Oh, and the transporter's ready."

"Thank you... Sora," Kylia said quietly, then hugged Akara. "Remember the greatest rule of all: Don't get killed, even if it means at another's life."

"You know I can't do that..." said Akara slowly, then she turned away from Kylia. As Akara slowly faded away, a lone tear dropped down Kylia's cheek.

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"Nice ship. 'Lot bigger than ours," commented Akara, looking around curiously at the ship that surrounded her. She looked out the window to see Cameron's ship turn away, and head back to Tabonia.

"Who was that with you?" asked Sora.

"Oh, that? She's Kylia, by best friend – only friend – in Tabonia," Akara said, then walked up to Sora. She was at least two inches taller than him, being three years older and all. The dog, Goofy, was about her height, while the duck, Donald, was the shortest, about a foot-and-a-half shorter than Akara. "What's your itinerary?"

"Itinerary?" asked Sora.

"Where are you going?" sighed Akara.

"Oh, to the next world," said Sora.

"Where might that be?" Akara asked.

"Hollow Bastion," Sora said, then, with regret, added, "Where Riku took Kairi."

"We'll have to trade stories sometime. Where can I put my stuff?" asked Akara. Goofy picked up her small bag and placed it gingerly in a drawer. "That solves that problem."

"No! She can't come!" yelled Donald. "Number one, we don't have enough space, number two, she'll only be in our way!" Within a second, Akara's bladed staff was right under Donald's beak. Sora and Goofy looked at her, astonished

"You may want to close that beak of yours, duck. It'll get you in a lot of trouble someday," Akara said coldly, and the blade disappeared. Donald sighed in relief, but his eyes were filled with hatred for the newcomer. Woopee. I've already made my first enemy here, Akara thought to herself.

"We're nearing Hollow Bastion," Sora said. Through the window was a creepy looking castle, a huge bubble of water on the bottom part of the world, the castle on the top. Pipes and light magenta colored magic twisted around the castle, and the infamous Heartless symbol was everywhere. Sora pressed the transporter button, and they all faded off the ship and onto the new world.

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"The waterfalls... they're rising!" exclaimed Akara as she looked at the rising falls. Various icy platforms were placed as a pathway to a larger platform, with a big stone arch in the front. The castle of Hollow Bastion was after that.

"It's strange..." said Sora, his hand moving over his heart.

"Huh?" Akara asked.

"I feel a warmth inside, right here..." he finished. Donald looked at him disbelieving.

"Aw, you're just hungry," said Donald.

"Hey, I'm serious!" yelled Sora. A roar ripped through the intense peacefulness of the falls. They all looked up at the large platform. "Come on, let's go!" Sora said, and started jumping up the platforms.

"Wait up," Akara yelled, and started her cautious ascent of the platforms. Finally they reached the large one, where a boy with light silver hair and aqua eyes, dressed in a pair of blue pants and a yellow shirt, was confronting a huge beast-man.

"No ship, no help from the Heartless... So tell me. How'd you get here to Hollow Bastion?" asked the aqua-eyed boy.

"I simply... believed. Nothing more to it. When our world surrendered to the Heartless, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again... no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am, at the place you call Hollow Bastion. Belle must be here. I will have her back!" growled the beast-man.

"Take her, if you can," said the boy again, his sword appearing out of midair. It looked dark, designed like a bat wing. The beast-man charged at the boy, but the boy dodged behind the beast-man, and injured him severely. The beast-man fell, and that was when Sora stepped in.

"Stop!" he yelled.

About time he stepped in, thought Akara.

"So, you've finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you," said the silver-haired boy casually, as if he had not hurt the beast-man. "We've always been rivals, haven't we, Sora? You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you."

Sora looked nervous. "Riku..." he mumbled.

"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters," said Riku, or, at least, that's what Akara figured who it was.

"What the heck are you talking about?" asked Sora, confused.

"Let the Keyblade choose... its true master!" Riku yelled, and he held out his hand. The giant key that was in Sora's hand kinda fought against him, and then, it appeared in Riku's hand.

"Huh?" quacked Donald. Goofy was equally surprised.

"Maleficent was right," said Riku confidently, finding a way to hold the Keyblade comfortably. "You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's all up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door... and change the world."

"But that's impossible!" yelled Sora. "I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!"

"You were just the delivery boy," said Riku, and held the Keyblade in front of his face, examining it, ignoring Sora.

Ouch. If they're world is anything like ours, that was a major insult, Akara thought, cringing at the thought.

"Sorry, your part's over now. Here. Go play hero with this," said Riku, throwing a wooden sword he was carrying at Sora's feet. Sora fell to his hands and knees as Riku left.

"Goofy, let's go. We have to remember our mission," said Donald, and he walked toward the next platform.

"Well, I know the king told us to follow the king and all... but..." Googy said sadly, then he followed to where Donald was standing.

Donald stopped, then said, "Sora, sorry," and walked away.

Akara stared at Donald and Goofy. "Have you no heart?" she asked. "I may not know what your mission is, but from the first time I saw you guys, I thought of you as a team." Goofy hesitated for a moment, but then followed Donald, who was ignoring Akara. The beast-man, who she then decided to call Beast, tried to move toward the next platform, but couldn't.

"Hey... don't move. You're hurt," said Sora, and he cast a healing spell on Beast's wounds.

"Why... did you come here?" asked the Beast. "I came... to fight for Belle. And though I may be on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her."

Sora looked intently at the Beast, and then picked up the wooden sword. "Me too. I'm not going to give up now, not when I've come so far. I came here to find someone very important to me."

"Kairi, right?" Akara asked.

"Yeah," said Sora. That being the end of the conversation, they headed off toward the next platform, to go to the castle of Hollow Bastion.

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Saphire's notes: Not much really to comment on this chapter. Review.