D/N: Ummm. .. yeah. .. My next chapter, you know. It has a hell of a lot more action, which is good. We're delving deeper and deeper into the plot! Oh, and from now on, I'm going to take longer to post the chapters, cause I have to do stuff. Yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts. Squre-enix and Disney does, along with all of the others that helped to make the game.

Em screamed, right in my ear, while Hatori, who still had his hands on my shoulders, squeezed tightly in his own expression of fear. We were floating on a small island of land, while something whirled around us, the trees that were around us uprooted and flying around us. No one else could be seen on the small expanse of soil that was left around us. By some miracle, our shelter remained completely intact, as though something were holding it there. Em, misty eyed, slowly walked out to the middle of the soil, and I screamed after her, "Em! No, wait, don't go! You don't know what's out there!"

She looked back at me, her dyed blonde hair whipping into her face, "What is wrong with you, Raine? Why are you so scared?" Her voice was hard and deep; a man's voice. Startled, I looked back at Hatori and he shrugged; he didn't know what was happening either.

A shadow-like hand reached over the edge of the island, and Em turned toward it at our frightened screaming. The hand was followed by another, and then the torso of a monstrous being, all of it tangible shadow. It reached out a right hand toward Em, stopping right next to her. She looked back at us after clambering onto it and smiled icily at us, while her eyes were still a terrible blank, "Come with me, into the shadows, and join us! There are wishes that you have, I know, whishes that the shadows can form, can come to be true. All you have to do is to give your hearts to the shadows." Her man-voice was a whisper by the end, barely audible over a howling wind. Her hair whipped ever furiously around her, and then the shadow picked her up, clambering up onto the island in full, its face hidden in tentacles of shadow. Em was gone; the shadow must have done something to her. The shadow reached forward for us, and something murmured on the wind, sounding mysteriously of the Em's man-voice, 'You know you want to join us. Adventures await you, different planes of life. You want a new life; you want to be a hero. Come with us. Come into the shadows!' I reached out toward the shadow; its promises were so tempting, and it sounded so sincere. Hatori yanked me back, so that we both tumbled onto the carpeted floor of our shelter in a heap. The shadow screamed as a wall of light blocked its reaching fingers, and it pulled away.

Hatori lay back on the dirt floor, panting. I stared at him for a moment, then shook my clouded head clear in time to hear him mutter, "I knew she wasn't good. How could she do that to us?"

I looked down at him for a moment, and then began to stretch a few kinks out of my back, "I think. . . I think, well, the shadow, or whatever is working behind it, is casting some sort of hypnotic spell. It almost entangled me, Haa-chan, and it would have gotten me, too, if you hadn't pulled me back in time. Its promises. .. They were everything I wanted!"

He sat up, and looked at me funny, "I don't think we'll live without joining it. You're stronger than me, emotionally at least, and I know it. But. . . I think you took a hypnotic spell for two; I heard no promises, and had no urge to go near it. You're the one who saved me. Do . . . Can you think of anyway to fight it?"

A whisper echoed around the small room, as though answering his question, "You dreamed of powerful weapons, both of you. Weapons that you promised to fight the shadows with, weapons that will protect you and your loved ones. Your home is gone, engulfed by the shadows, while this spark of light will not last much longer against the power of darkness. Do you remember your duties?"

I nodded, so did Hatori, and I muttered, "The power of a warrior, the power of a mage."

Hatori intoned, "The power of a mage, the power of a protector."

"Yes, that is right. You both will have magic, you both are warriors, and you both are protectors. The ways you have chosen are your stronger points. The warrior is both good in magic and fighting, but defense is what you lack. The mage is good in both fighting and healing, but has not the pure strength of the warrior. Now, go forth with the weapons that are yours. Repent the shadows once more; send them to the dark cavern where they should remain."

I hesitated, unsure as to what I should do now; I didn't feel very different. Something clanked, and a sudden weight was added to my body. I looked down, startled, and saw bronze armor covering my body, a heavy key-shaped weapon hanging from my belt. Hatori looked down at the staff that was in his hands, the steel that covered his body, which looked much more protective than my own.

He ran one finger down his arm guard, and whispered, "What is all of this? Why are we dressed like this?"

I shook my head, slowly, and unlatched the golden key. Runes were etched down the golden shaft, and the grip seemed made for my hand, and only it. A small chain dangled from the handle's end, and looked detachable, as though that's how I upgraded my weapon. Feeling like I show off, I threw it in the air, and caught it again, almost with ease; I already knew what to do with it.

Hatori made a symbol with his free hand, and then shouted, "Fire!"

A blaze of fire appeared in midair, burned brightly for a moment, then faded into nothing as soon as Hatori broke off the magic with another hand-symbol. He looked at me, his eyes glittering in his excitement. "We have magic, Raine! We have powers."

I nodded and looked up at the entrance to our small hide out, and then looked back at Hatori, "This might be our only chance, you know. We might have to go now, initiate the attack, or be defeated by the shadows that wait outside. I don't think the one who gave us our powers wants us to die just yet."

He nodded in agreement, and we climbed up, together. At the top, I took a deep breath, and then hefted the key blade, "You follow me out of here, and watch the shadows as I open it up. I'm not so sure how fast I can work, so you'll have to watch out for me until we're free. Are you ready? I'll join in as soon as I get out. Haa-chan. . . . Are you sure you want to do this?"

He nodded, slightly, and then stopped me as I was about to attack the bush, "Wait, Raine. Don't die out there. I'm not sure what I'll do alone."

I grinned back at him, "If I die, who's going to save all of those young maidens you might come across? Let's go." With the key blade, I began to hack at the bottom of the bush, so that we wouldn't have to put down our weapons in order to leave. Fire lanced out at the shadowy hand that had darted down, as if to attack me, and, since the bush was already down, I blocked his other hand with my key blade, while Hatori used his staff to fend off what I could not. I lurched forward, and slashed at the creature's arm in a blind attack. There was a flash of light, and then the creature pulled back, howling in pain and clutching what remained of its hand.

I could sense that I might just be able to kill it, that it might fall back if I do this one thing. It could be dangerous, but it was the only way. Hatori called from behind me, "I don't have much magic left! I'm going to stick with physical attacks now!"

I nodded to him, and sliced at the shadow creature as it tried to get closer again, "Fall back, and just keep the smaller ones away. I can handle this myself, don't worry. Keep your magic in reserve unless I tell you I need it!"

Hatori screamed, and I turned to see him locked together with a few of the smaller shadows; they had decided to gang up on him. As I was distracted, the main shadow suddenly took that time to lunge forward and bury long black claws into my left shoulder. I screamed in pain, and then gritted my teeth and turned around to face the larger monster and struck again at it, ignoring the blood that flowed down my side. Hatori was at my side in a moment, and he called, pointing his staff at my wound, "Cure!"

I felt the wound stop bleeding, and then heal slightly, some of my energy replenished, "Thanks Hatori." He only nodded in response, his face ashen as he once again continued with his own onslaught against the smaller creatures. The large shadow-monster thrust out one hand, and buried it in the dirt. I took my chance, while it was performing a spell, to jump clumsily up its arm and strike it at the shoulder with the key blade. It roared, and began falling backwards, off of the island. Its teeth, revealed to me by the writhing tentacles, closed around my leg, as though it were going to drag me back with it. From far off, I could hear Hatori yelling as I hacked again and again at the monster's face, trying to make it let go before I was dragged into the shadowy void underneath the small patch of land.

As suddenly as it had gripped me, the creature let go of me, and I was thrown up in the air as the creature fell away from me, howling in both rage and pain. For a moment, it felt as though I were floating in nothing, that I was somehow flying above what was left of my world, a separate creature. Then I was falling faster and faster, right toward the green dome of the shelter.

As I fell through the branches, I could feel my bones break when they encountered thicker branches, and then my flesh being torn to ribbons by whipping branches. My decent was slowed by what I hit, but it wasn't enough. I hit the ground with a meaty thud, and a spray of blood from my mouth. Consciousness started to ebb slowly away from me along with the pain.

Hatori came sliding down the side of the shelter, throwing dirt everywhere. I remembered what he had said to me before the battle, remembered why I shouldn't die, and tried to fight against wave after wave of pain and nausea. He took out a small green bottle from a pouch by his side, hesitating to read the side, and then biting out the cork and dumping a nasty liquid into my mouth. Swallowing blood and vomit, I managed to gulp it down while Hatori, trembling, lay down on the carpet beside me. As soon as my stomach had settled, I could feel a strange magic flowing through me, mending the worst of my injuries.

With a groan, I sat up, mentally checking off what still needed to be mended; a broken wrist, wounded shoulder and hundreds of different cuts in my skin. Just by looking at Hatori, I could tell that he wasn't in much better shape than I was. Carefully, I reached into his pouch and counted how many of the small bottles of healing liquid he had left; nine in all. Hatori's eyes flickered open, and he opened his mouth automatically as I uncorked the green bottle. A few moments later he was sitting up, grimacing.

I croaked, dryly, "You look horrible."

He laughed dryly, "And you look like you've been through hell. How healed are you?"

"Enough for the moment. Drink another potion; I don't want you dying the next time we face one of those shadow-creatures."

He shook his head, "No. You need it more. I'll be fine after some food and rest. Having your magic drained isn't all that fun."

I drank another bottle of the green potion with a grimace, "Nasty stuff. Here," I remembered the hand gesture that Hatori made for me, and then murmured, "Cure." A green light flashed, and Hatori looked healthier, his skin regaining his normal pallor. My wrist and shoulder had already healed, along with most of my skin; the magic in the potion must target priorities, and heal until it runs out of power.

I leaned back against a bean-bag with a sigh, "Now what're we going to do?"

Hatori threw me a packet of chips, "Eat, rest, and hope that nothing happens until morning."

"And we'll know its morning. . . how?"

He shrugged, "How about rest until something happens?"

"That sounds about right . . . do you have any munny with you? We might need it if we're going to go anywhere."

Hatori held up a few golden pieces, "There's quite a bit in my pouch here. Look, you have the same pouch too!"

Startled, I reached in, clipping my key blade to my belt again, "Well, what do you know! I have potions, too. Not many, though."

We relaxed like that for a few moments, eating and drinking whatever Em had stored in here. I sighed, and threw an empty wrapper onto a sleeping back, resting against the wall, my eyes slowly closing; I was ready to sleep.

Suddenly, the ground began to buck and quake, as though on the back of a wild bull, and I was thrown into Hatori as he tried to scramble up, staff in his hands. "What the hell is happening!" I shouted over the loud rumbling.

His voice shook with the ground, "I don't know! But we should hold on!"

"To what!"

"Each other!" He cried out, throwing both arms around me in a desperate attempt to keep himself still.

Just as soon as it had started, the rumbling stopped, the ground stopped jumping. I almost let go of Hatori when the ground fell apart from under us, and we began to fall, screaming, toward a black void of moving shadows. We landed with a splash, and everything turned black.

D/N: Read and review, and my thanks to all of the people who actually read this far. Which doesn't seem to be many people,looking atthe review count. . . XD