Okay, first things first. The character Christine's hair color has been changed as well as eye color due to a request by the person who Christine is based off.

Anyway, this is chapter one of The Seventh Blade and I hope you enjoy!

Ch.1- Hirosaki

She couldn't take it anymore. She hated being cooped up in her house day and night. She didn't give a damn about the Heartless; she could hold her own against them any day. Hell, she could even take out a Defender with ease.

She looked at herself in the mirror atop her dresser.

'I'm not a child anymore! I'm a grown woman! If only my idiot of a father could see that!' she sighed.

Most of all though, she wanted to find, him. Yes, she, Dess Rinston was lovesick. She didn't know how it had happened…well, okay she did.

She was four and her best friend was Kythe Razalas. They were inseparable, if one did one thing; the other was there to help.

Their parents had been really close too. Then eight years later, Kythe was gone, his parents dead, and Dess in a state of shock.

Now at the age of seventeen, she wasn't about to give up hope on Kythe just yet. Something in her being made her believe, made her sure that Kythe was still alive.

This war that all mankind was raging against the Heartless seemed to be a sign from the heavens. There was no better time to look for Kythe and kick Heartless ass in the process.

However, her father had flat out refused to let her join the recruiting regiment currently stationed in Hirosaki for a short amount of time. He kept insisting that it was a man's job. To which she had countered with,

"Oh really? Well last time I looked these so called "regiments" weren't being picky! The entire existence of the human race is at stake and you don't seem to give a damn!"

And in truth, she was right. They weren't so much regiment as they were the last lines of defense against the Heartless. The only time people really seemed to be afraid of the Heartless was when they were losing their hearts to them and by then, it was too late.

Sure the Keybearer had managed to free a lot of the hearts that had been stolen when he had defeated Ansem, but instead of the Heartless diminishing into nothing, they had flourished and adapted to all the worlds they invaded. They could think, they could plot, and they could do it all more effectively than before.

She was just about ready. She finished packing her clothes and supplies into her knapsack.

Her father had said something earlier about how the Keybearer would stop the war and other junk like that.

'But what if he doesn't? What if he can't?' she thought. She couldn't allow that to happen and she'd be damned if she did while she was still breathing.

"Besides," she muttered, "it doesn't seem like this Keybearer is doing to good. We get swarmed by Heartless every month." Thank god there had been a temporary lull. That was why the regiment was camped in Hirosaki in the first place. No Heartless meant they could recruit warriors without any worry as to if they would get attacked and scare the fighters away.

She tied the knapsack over her shoulder and placed her two daggers into their respective holsters, one at her thigh and the other just at her hip.

She walked over to her second floor window and opened it. She knew she had to be quiet even if it was already one thirty in the morning due to the heightened senses of the fellow occupants of the house.

She gently slipped out the window and onto the shingled roof. Immediately she thanked god that it was a clear night. Sure she had done this many times before, but if it had been raining…

Silently, she made her way towards the drainpipe, which was conveniently located just past her parent's room. Had she wanted to, she could have just jumped but after years of experience, she had learned that that wasn't such a good idea. Besides, they would expect her to jump straight off, but they would never expect her to use the drainpipe to get down.

She softly grasped the pipe and placed her feet in the correct spots and then she let go. There was a brief sensation of weightlessness and then she hit the ground…hard.

"Oww!" she hissed while mentally slapping herself in the head and massaging her rear in the process.

Getting up, she started out on the block walk that she had before she could sign up for freedom. As an afterthought she pulled out her daggers just to give herself some protection.

'Besides,' she thought, 'you never know what could be lurking around this late. Heartless, or even…men.'

It wasn't that she didn't like men; it was just that usually the only men that were out this late were so drunk that they tended to try to "hit" on her, to put it lightly.

It was a rather quiet night, Dess noticed as she made her way over the last few meters, nearing the compound. Regardless what time it was, she knew there would be someone there awake and willing to sigh her up.

That was when she the screams.

"HELP ME SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"

Dess's head immediately shot around in the direction of the shouts. She was so close to the compound but she couldn't just let someone die…especially when they were close by.

She ran into the jungle that was Hirosaki, trying to determine where the shout had come from when another scream pierced the air.

"AHH! HELP ME PLEASE!"

Now Dess knew where the voice was coming from. It was almost directly to her left, just behind an old factory building. She took off, daggers in hand.

When she rounded the corner, she saw the Heartless, swarming around a heap on the ground. She noticed that they were all only Shadow Heartless, not really much of a work out for her.

She threw herself at the first one, impaling it upon her dagger in her left hand while swinging the right one over her shoulder and through another's head while she started to spin to her left. She pulled her daggers out of the now lifeless Heartless and plunged them into yet another one catching it in its stomach now going into a dodge roll avoiding two attacking Heartless while sticking another in its back.

Finally, she pulled her daggers close and then started to tense her muscles, gathering energy for her next attack. When the two remaining Heartless charged her, she immediately let loose. The caught one through the neck and the last one through the leg, pinning it down and then, looking down at it in disgust, she crashed her foot through its head.

She looked down at the whimpering girl. She knelt down next to her.

"Hey," she whispered, "it's alright. They're gone, come on, let's get you up." With a little help the girl was on her feet.

"T-thanks miss." She said, "They just came from nowhere, out of the darkness."

"It's alright now, just hurry up and get home." And then as an after thought added, "You don't live to far from here do you?"

The girl shook her head, "It's only a couple of buildings down."

With that, she thanked Dess again and took off.

Dess looked over toward the dark corner of the alleyway. She shivered involuntarily. She hated the dark, that was where the Heartless spawned and they thrived on fear. That was probably why they had attacked the girl in the first place.

Turning her back to the alley, she started back toward the regiment compound. That was when she heard the soft, low hiss. She spun around and looked back towards the shadows convinced that the sound had come from there. There was nothing.

Then she heard the sound of water hitting water. And then, there was another hiss, sharper and slightly more agitated than before. Slowly, Dess backed away making her way cautiously out of the alleyway.

Then she saw it. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. Its long, grotesque, banana like head and razor sharp teeth and talons gleaming menacingly in the dim light of the alley.

Something grabbed her shoulder and she turned abruptly in fear. What she saw was something she had never expected.

She was met with green eyes and a frown. Then the girl spoke.

"Come on. Be quiet and let's get the hell out of here." With that, both girls immediately turned tail and ran out towards the compound.

Neither stopped until they were safe behind the heavy steal door of the regiments current headquarters.

Now, with her breathing under control, Dess looked at the red head and asked,

"What in the hell was that thing?"

"That my friend," she replied, "was an Alien."

"What?" Dess was confused.

"The Aliens are a race of mindless killing machines that have joined sides with the Heartless to take out the human race. They are fast, deadly, and they have acid for blood. They're the perfect killing machine." Explained the red head.

"Well thanks for getting me out of there. By the way, what's your name?"

"My name's Miako and it was no problem. We only recently ran into the Aliens, thus the reason that we stopped here in Hirosaki to see if we could gather more fighters."

"Oh." Dess stated simply.

"What were you doing out so late anyway?" Miako asked.

"Well, I was on my way over here, but I heard a little girl screaming in that alleyway and when I went to investigate, she was being attacked by Heartless. I took them out and sent her on her way home, I was about to leave when I heard the Alien." Dess said.

"Oh. So you want to join the regiment?" Dess nodded eagerly. "Right over here!"

The two got up and it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

A/N: Okay, there's chapter one. So what'd you think? Good? Bad? Well, just R&R please! Flames welcome. 'Till next time!

HakushoRurouni