D/N: Another chapter. Ah, how fond I have grown with this story. It's a pity I've been so busy. Anyway, we left off with a cliffhanger last time. ' Hehe, I love cliffhangers. They're so much fun to write.

So, let's get on with the new segment!

Disclaimer: Do I really need this? Oh, pooh on a stick; Kingdom hearts belongs to Disney and Squaresoft. Etc. Etc. Etc. Em, Hatori and Raine all belong to me, 'cause I'm special like that.

Hatori drew in a quick breath as the heavy footsteps came closer and closer to where we are. I had frozen to the spot, key blade raised to defend myself, but I doubted my brain would react in time to block any enemy attack.

Suddenly, as if teleported to the spot, the creature whom the footsteps belonged to came to a skidding halt before me. With a shock, I realized it was actually a human female, rather short and with a feathering of medium length brown-red hair dusting her shoulders. She wore a strange outfit of black comfortable-looking pants and a low-cut tank top. In her hands she held a rolled up chain-whip that had a lethal looking blade dangling under her curled fist.

From behind me came a startled gasp, and I glanced at Hatori out from the corner of my eyes. He whispered, eyes wide, "Miss Tanaka? W-what are you doing here?"

Blinking, I turned toward my music teacher, and realized that it was her, out of the girlish pink skirts and fashionable blouses she normally wore when I saw her in front of the class. She sighed, "I had hoped it wouldn't be you two, but I have to deal with what I have. Come on now, children, we have to get somewhere safe. The shadows are coming."

Hatori looked as if he might follow her, but I planted myself firmly to the spot, the shock of having my teacher show up in such a strange place already wearing off, "Why are you here Miss Tanaka? Where is everyone? I'm not going anywhere until I have a few answers."

Miss Tanaka looked at me, exasperated, and asked, "Do you really have to question me now?" She held up a hand to stop us from answering, and shook her head, "No, don't answer it. I'll explain everything once you come with me. It'll be safer, and I promise I'll answer as many questions as possible."

I hesitated, but I could imagine that I could hear the scratching of shadow-claws on wood and stone, and decided that it would be safest listening to her. I didn't trust her completely, but she I could handle over another barrage of attacks. She glanced over her shoulder, warily, and then nodded to us, "Keep up. I don't want you to fall behind. Especially you, Raine. What you hold in your hands is most important to the entire universe right now. If the key blade falls into the wrong hands, I shudder to think what might happen."

Miss Tanaka turned, and began to run around the corner. I managed to trade one wary glance with Hatori before following, hoping that we could keep up.

The road curled around, maze-like, various forks in the road suddenly appearing out of nearly nowhere. Miss Tanaka followed a route that seemed to be embedded deep in her mind, for she did not hesitate, even when the road split into four.

A strong gust of wind howled through the maze-streets, and caused my dyed blue hair to flare dramatically around my face, blocking my vision and getting into my mouth. Miss Tanaka paused, and then her face grew pale. She threw herself back, her whip unraveling with the chink of the chain that held the blade. "Get behind me, children!"

I hesitated before listening to her; what did we have to hide from? We were warriors also, perhaps not as powerful as she, but we still were able to defeat the large shadow-creature from before. Regretfully, I fell back behind her, looking around for the shadows that might come from behind.

The wind's howl rose to a shriek that yanked at our clothes and threatened to bowl the two of us over. Miss Tanaka stood strong against the wind, whip held under one foot to keep it from hitting any of us. As the wind reached the point of lifting us off of the ground, it just stopped without warning. My ears popped from the lack of pressure, and I whispered, fear beginning to fill me once again, "What is happening?"

"They are coming. Get ready; you may have to join the battle also." Her eyes remained trained forward the entire time, flickering, watching around.

Hatori pressed close, as did I, watching carefully. From over the roof flew three strange dragon-like creatures, black scaled with long wicked-looking snouts. One for each of us to battle, it seemed. Miss Tanaka hissed, "They are the dogs of the shadows. They used to be living creatures from a different world, an island isolated from humans. Watch their bite; it is poisonous, and their claws can rip through the weak armor that you wear. Do not linger in one spot or they will get you." She pointed up as the circled above us, snarling and spitting vilely, "Look at their chests. That mark there? Aim for it. It is their weakest point. The scales on their bodies are much too hard for your weapons to pierce; only the key blade can cut through them, but that takes work. Here they come!"

The three dragons dove, splitting up to go for each of us. Mine was the largest of the three, the one with a necklace around its neck, while the small silver heart-like shape was the smallest of the three. Miss Tanaka shouted a war cry, and lunged forward with another crack of her whip, drawing the dragon close with the weapon.

I took my eyes off of my teacher as the dragon dove faster, and I rolled away as it hit the cobblestones in an explosion of stone shards and dirt. It snarled, blue-black fire dancing at the edges of its mouth, turning its golden eyes to face me. I held up the key blade, heart beating quickly. This creature seemed to be much more dangerous than the shadows. It lunged at me with a slash of wicked claws, and I stumbled backwards, the blow glancing off of the metal of the key blade. Again, Miss Tanaka shouted another war cry, the whip cracking over and over again, covering the sound of Hatori's incantations. My own dragon fell back, a snarl on its face, watching me warily, limping on the claws that had been blocked by my key blade, a ghastly orange-yellow blood dripping from the wound there.

Hatori yelled, in pain, from behind me. I turned at the sound, hoping that he was living. Hot pinpoints of pain drove deep into my left shoulder, and claws gripped my left arm firmly so that I could not escape. It was my turn to scream in pain, my key blade flashing with a pulse of magic. The creature was flung back by the force of the magical attack, and was thrown into one of those strange buildings; it held under the creature's weight.

I rushed forward without thinking, not feeling the hot blood drip down my side, or the sizzle of poison on my clothes and armor. All I saw was the pained dragon as it tried to right itself, its back leg seeming to be broken, and not willing to bear its weight. The key blade swung in a large silver arc, and I slashed through the soft flesh of the mark on its chest. With a snarl, the dragon tried to claw at me again, but its body had begun to dissolve when I had given it the fatal blow.

One of my arm guards clattered to the ground as I turned, wearily, to face my companions. Hatori's leg bled freely, but he was still gamely casting spells at the burning dragon that flapped its wings desperately, trying to put out the flames. Miss Tanaka's whip cracked again and again, lashing the dragon mercilessly. She yanked a dagger from her side, and plunged it deep into the mark on her dragon's chest as it let down its guard for a moment, one of its large claws trapped by the whip. The dragon faded away with a brief bellow of hate, and Miss Tanaka turned to help Hatori, whose magic was not strong enough yet to pierce the think hide just yet. His face was a grimace of pain bathed in sweat. I stood, shakily, and began to run over to them, key blade ready, for Miss Tanaka was slow; she had tripped on loose cobblestones, her flesh on one of her hands scraped away by the stone.

I lashed out at the dragon as it threatened to attack Hatori again; its eyes wildly alight with its want for revenge. Hatori fended off another attack as it tried to swipe me aside. With the distraction, I plunged my weapon into its chest with a mighty heave, almost slipping in the blood on the ground.

Hatori collapsed on the cobblestones, his staff disappearing in a wave of light. Miss Tanaka walked over to us, her face worn, but still smiling. "Isn't this fun? Let's go now."

"Hatori's injured!" I snarled, glaring at her, "He needs rest."

"I'll be fi-"

"I don't want you dying of blood loss." I interrupted him, with a glance back before glaring up at the teacher again.

She gave him a green potion bottle, "Drink this. You'll feel better in a moment. We must go as soon as possible. Once Caeda, the leader of the shadows, or heartless, as they were once called, finds out that these three were defeated, she will send more to stop us."

Hatori drained the potion in a few grateful gulps, and closed his eyes as the potion knitted together his flesh, and replaced the blood he had lost. His eyes flickered open after a moment, and he looked at me, "What about you? Your sleeve is soaked with blood."

"Don't worry about me. Let's go; I don't want to fight any more for today."

Miss Tanaka was off again, leading the way, as soon as we showed that we were able to stand, though she went slowly so that we could follow her without falling too far behind.

At the edge of the maze-town, she stopped, and turned toward us, "Mention nothing about the key blade. Your weapon. . . . Hide it with your magic."

"How?" I was bewildered by her words. Hatori knew how to hide his weapon, yes, but he was also the mage. He knew of things that I did not know when it came to magic.

She stared at me, and then told me, slowly, "Draw it into your body, as though it has been a part of you your entire life. It will listen to you, and will manifest itself into a form that you will be always on your body. Try, fast."

I looked down at the key blade, biting my lip in my concentration. The key blade whispered in the back of my mind, and it faded away in my hand into a silver mist. I watched as the mist curled around my right wrist and hand, creating a strange bracelet and ring, attacked by a chain. From the bracelet hung the same key chain that was attacked to the end of the key; it reminded me, each time it bumped against my flesh with a soft clink of metal, I remembered that it was there. There would be no way that I could forget about the powerful weapon that I carried.

Miss Tanaka smiled, and turned away, "Good. Let's go. We're nearly at the town itself. We're going to a town which is for the people who had lost their homes to the shadows. I remember the name as "Traverse Town". You might find people you know there, but try your hardest not to talk to them. If you get separated from me, then you have no choice, but try not to."

"Yes Miss Tanaka." Hatori said, demurely. His face was exhausted; he probably could not take too much more of this. I felt the same way he looked, and laid a sympathetic hand on his arm.

"Don't worry too much. Just rest your mind as we move."

He smiled dryly, "Oh, I'm relaxing. Pity there isn't any really pretty woman around to help me relax."

Both Miss Tanaka and I whapped him over the head before continuing on; he was feeling better, all right.

We left the maze-town, and behind us came the sound of grinding stone; the place where the three of us had exited was gone now, only an empty hillside, as though we had simply walked across the land to get here. I muttered, darkly, "To hell with this world. It's like it wants to kill us."

Miss Tanaka laughed wryly, her own eyes facing forward, "This is normal for the lands you have to travel now. That was an illusion of the shadows. They rely on such tricks to get you to let down your guard, to become panicked, and then you won't be able to escape, and their minions would get you in the maze. Look," Her finger extended out to point in the distance, "Traverse town. Our makeshift home."

I looked toward where she was pointing, and saw, glittering only a few hundred feet away, stood a large town with doors, light, and the scent of burning wood. Smoke rose from the chimneys; this was more like a town. This would make a good place to have a home.

D/N: As you might notice, soon enough, I like fight scenes, but I suck at writing them. XD. And I'm sorry if I have a few pieces of third person in here. I've been writing IN third person before doing this chapter, and I have to transition.

Whoever guesses who Miss Tanaka really is gets pixie stix. You'll find out who it really is next chapter. (and perhaps you'll be surprised. . .? I don't know any of you all that well, so. .. .XD)

Read and review, and all flames are welcome! bows