Chapter 35

How Burnt Do You Like Your Stake?

It was late afternoon. The air had chilled and the sun was going down. Along with the lowering sun were lowering eyebrows; disgusted glares from the people of Thanksgiving Town. Every man, woman, and child in town square either frowned, yelled, or spat at the barely dressed young woman bound to a wooden stake in the middle of the plaza. This young woman about to face an ill fate was none other than our very own Ms. Sydney Night.

Sydney was tied with her arms behind her back, her feet together, and her back to the stake. Her new tail stuck out to the side. She was bruised and beaten from the hash way that the residents treated her after she had been accused a witch. The pain and the itchy sensation from her tail were gone, but now the anxiety of being burned alive had risen in Sydney's chest. She could see that the numerous amount of men gathering wood around her feet to start a bon fire had almost completed their task. Within a matter of minutes the wood would be ignited, and a giant flame would engulf Sydney.

Watery, sad eyes were all that she could respond to the crowd. Sydney let her body hang limp against the rope's bindings; she was too tired to continue to struggle from her tethered prison.

Finally, the last block of wood had been tossed onto the pile of its cousins. This action sent all the people from yelling insults, to chanting, "Burn the witch! Burn the witch!" over and over again.

A strong, tan, Indiana man with jet-black hair took a step towards the woodpile. He ran two fingers over his scalp and pulled out a match, like someone would a bobby pin. In a quick motion he struck the match on a block of wood, and then he held it lit an inch from his grave face. Sydney's tired eyes looked at the match he held. She drew in a deep breath, then let it out. There was nothing else she could do. Sydney had finally given up at something.

The man sneered as the people continued to chant. He extended the match over the pile of wood. The crowd went silent.

In Sydney's eyes, when the Indiana dropped the match, the little burning stick fell in slow motion. It turned like a wheel several times before it finally touched the dry wood.

From there, time caught up with itself. The wood surrounding Sydney instantly went up in flame. The orange fire did its dance of death as it came closer and closer to Sydney. The heat and the danger were becoming more intense with each passing second.

Stubborn to the end, when the wood around Sydney caught fire, her face changed from tired to pissed-off. How dare they burn her at the stake! Sydney was not going to let them see her pain and fear. She did not want them to think they had won. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Sydney held her icy glare for all of them to see.

But after just twenty seconds of being roasted on an open fire, Sydney started to act human. Her eyes filled with tears and she let out a scream so terrible, so gagged with sadness, that even some of the town's people subconsciously pushed out a hand to her; as if she could just reach for it and be saved. All except the big, tough men had their expressions changed from hateful to sympatric. But on the inside, they were all feeling regret.

Sydney squeezed her eyes shut now to keep her eyeballs from bursting. Her scream was at its peak volume when the fire finally touched her toes.

And at that time, Sydney's scream formed words, "JACK, SAVE ME! PLEASE!"

However, her scream was more wishful thinking than it was an order. And unfortunately for Sydney, Jack couldn't hear her calls.

"Sydney!" Jack cried back to her.

Wow! It looks like Jack really could hear Sydney's calls. And with his cry competing with the cracking flames and Sydney's own screaming, she could just barely hear his voice.

"We're coming Sydney! Hang in there!" Jack said confidently.

At this point, Sydney didn't see any of her own rescue through her closed eyes, but she was told later by Jack what happened.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were flying over head using the magic skill they got from Peter Pan (entirely different story). Jack was in the sky with them, being secured around the waist by Goofy.

Swooping down for the saving, Sora left Donald, Goofy, and Jack in the air several feet above Sydney. Sora plunged headfirst towards Sydney's stake, then abruptly stopped three feet above the ground, and did a 180-degree back flip to be right side up. He then circled the fire with his key blade pointed at the fire's base, extinguishing it with a blizzard that shot out of the slaying end of his key blade. In seconds the heat and fire were gone. Upon this, Sydney's adrenalin had finally maxed-out and she fainted where she was bound.

Sora did a final precaution circle around the wooden stake before landing on the opposite side of the stake as Sydney. In one clean slice, Sora cut through the ropes that had Sydney tied down. Being unconscious, she began to fall forward, but Sora quickly flew around the stake to her. He caught her face forward, then gently turned her over so her legs and head could drape over both his arms. Having a good hold on her, Sora took a giant leap into the air that instantly became flight. He came up between Donald and Goofy, and then led the way into the circle of trees.

What Jack told Sydney later was the strangest thing: while she was being rescued by Sora, none of the town's people made any effort to stop him. He couldn't tell from the height he was at, but it looked to him like the people were thankful for what Soar did.