FFN seems to go off and on about letting me edit my text in the Document Manager of this site... somtimes, it comes to me fast...sometimes, as was the case in this fic's 2nd chapter, it can take hours. Other times still it won't work at all, as last chapter didn't. If I can, I WILL improve the appearance by italics, bold stuff, underlines (although those are almost done, anyway, now that Yoh can use his Oversoul), and if I can't... I won't. Sorry.
Also, this chapter is short. Compared to the other three, VERY short. Future ones will be longer, and this IS a 'non-world' chapter, but it's still too short for my tastes. Again, sorry.
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Myoga's Character Bios.
Gatomon - A Champion level, Vaccine type Digimon of the feline nature. Gatomon is Kari's partner and a very sly cat, to boot. She would be more powerful with her golden tail ring, which was lost in an early encounter against the Digimon Emperor. She used to be on the wrong side, but broke free of her master Myotismon and rejoined Kari, as she was meant to, in Digimon 01, the first season of Digimon.
Ken Ichijouji - A boy genius and incredible athlete, Ken became the unwilling focus of an experiment with dark powers, which spurred him on to become the Digimon Emperor. In the real world, his parents long to be closer to him, and have been worried sick since he made the Digital World his permanant home. He made amends with his partner, Wormmon, when his arc ended in Digimon 02, the second season of Digimon.
Wormmon - A Rookie level, Virus type Digimon of the insectoid nature. Wormmon was Ken's Digimon partner, but was pushed away as the young man continued down the path of darkness. His love for his friend never died, however, and he supported him until the very end...then came back, and finally resumed his guardian-like position. He first wiggled into our hearts in Digimon 02.
Sheik - A mysterious man claiming to be from Hyrule, a world already taken by the Heartless. He is named after his race, the Sheikahs, of which he is the last surviving member. The Sheikahs have been the guardians of Hyrule's royal family members for ages, and it is on the orders of one such individual he aids Yoh and the others in their quest... or so he claims. He taught the Hero of Time songs that saved the world in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
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The roar of the Blue Eyes White Gummi Ship's engines was unheard in the ship's spacious interior... which was a very good thing. The minds of all four inhabitants were loud enough, racing through the events of the day, pondering the identity of their mysterious benefactor, and dealing with the guilt that someone they had barely just befriended was taken from right under their noses.
Yoh originally thought practicing his new instrument would help the nervous atmosphere, and for a while, it did... the ocarina's energy allowed him to play the full Song of Time as if he knew it by heart. However, when he tried varying from the path, testing out the notes, the sound nearly caused Kaiba to steer the ship into an asteroid. The brown-haired shaman sighed as he placed the item back into a small brown backpack Kaiba had found in the storage room, then looked out to view the wide, empty scene in front of the ship.
"So, where are we going?" He asked glumly.
"No idea. The only planet with a survivable atmosphere and a chance of us NOT breaking the laws of Gummi Space travel is our destination, but all I know about it I said earlier this sentance." Kaiba replied blandly. "And, unfortunately, the scanner shows that it's a LOT like the Digital World; for instance, made of data. Which means more of Wheeler's paranoia..."
"It's not paranoia; it's common sense!" Joey said defensively. Kaiba rolled his eyes.
"Even if that could POSSIBLY be described as common sense, who did you have to steal it from, anyway? Some anti-penguin extremist android scouring the south pole for evidence of a takeover plot?"
"...what in the world did you just say, again? I lost you...and not by ignoring you...about halfway through that insult."
Growling, the mage turned back to his controls. "Forget about it."
Yoh looked with the spellcastor, viewing the vast, black nothingness outside the screen in front of them. Occasionally, a needlessly bright-colored building, or something like one, would float by, accompanied by a Heartless assault that the ship took out in seconds, but aside from that, all they could do was wait until a world appeared in front of them...
An endless, never-changing darkness...
Yoh shook his head, suddenly wide awake. "Whoa...talk about de ja vu."
"Really?" Joey asked, eagerly. "Please explain; if nothing else, it's gotta be somethin' more interesting than this!"
"Well, it was just a dream... a really, really weird dream... with lots of references to doors, keys, and..."
Yoh's eyes were wide open, now. "There were Heartless in it!"
Kaiba's own interest suddenly sparked as well. "Seeing as you're the owner of the only means to stop them, it might make sense that you had some sort of preliminary vision...a kind of 'test' so to speak."
The shaman frowned, trying to recall what had happened, and relayed what he could to his friends...
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He floated downward through darkness, a dim light above illuminating the platform he landed on by a small amount.
'So, you've finally been brought here...' A strange voice spoke in the void. 'To this place of emptiness, yet all existance. You're not a moment too soon, yet far too early to suceed..'
The brown-haired shaman looked all around, searching for the speaker, until he noticed a new ray of light at the platforms center. He could now see the area clearly; it looked like a mural. A small girl, less than half his height, was surrounded by several shadowed creatures, and closer in a series of weapons, including knives, axes, and, oddly enough, a glowing green bracelet. The girl herself had her eyes closed, her long white hair matching her dress, which seemed to be flapping in the wind...she looked like a ghost.
He stepped into the center, his feet on the bracelet, and three red beams of light flew from his feet to different parts of the circle, transforming into three pillars. Three items, a sword, a shield, and a staff, appeared, and each chose a platform to rest on.
'The Sword implies a Warrior, courageous, but also destructive... the Shield represents a Guardian, with many friends to protect, yet hides insecurity within... the Staff represents a Mystic... unbridled inner strength, but beware of the danger overconfidence brings... what do you choose?'
Yoh realized this was testing his character... but the instincts Anna had drilled into him recognized a soon-to-be battle, as well. Then again, he was a slacker. He walked to the shield and slipped it over his right arm, grinning.
'Very well, young Guardian... what will you sacrifice for this power?'
Giving something up would be more difficult. For a few minutes, the question of a difference between inner strength and courage boiled in his normally unstrained mind... until the young shaman just decided to wing it, as usual. He used the shield to strike the staff, and it spiralled into the void.
Murky blackness erupted from below him, and before he could register a danger, he was pulled under... when his eyes opened, he found a new platform to reside on.
This one depicted a woman, possibly three or four years older than him, wearing a pink and white dress, with long golden hair. Her ears were pointed, her eyes closed, and from her somber pose, she seemed to not notice the hulking figure behind her, with demonic eyes and a beast-like form. Another figure was in front of her, wearing a completely green outfit, aiming a glowing arrow at the beast, and three large, gold triangles surrounded them all.
In front of him, a large door appeared out of thin air. 'This is not the door you seek... yet you must enter it all the same. In time you will find the true door...but for now, your path leads to this detour.'
Yoh entered...and found himself back home. On the large wooden bridge along the cliffs of Destiny Island, with three of his closest friends around him. However, all three appeared to be in a trance; they stared at him, lightless eyes intent on his every move.
'I can see you are surprised, though this will only test your natural reactions, regardless. Your friends will ask you one question each... speak truthfully, so I can find your path.'
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"So, what'd they ask ya?" Joey inquired, on the edge of his seat. Kaiba 'accidentally' moved the ship to hit a small asteroid on the knight's side of the ship, and Joey fell off, meeting the ground at high speed.
"It was kinda complicated stuff... I guess... I didn't really understand it all. Something about what I was scared of, what I wanted to do, what did I cherish most.."
"You call things like that complicated?" Kaiba asked, suddenly feeling concerned for his ally's mental strength once more.
"Hey, I had no idea if it was one of Anna's tests! It wouldn't be the first time she invaded my dreams to try and train me! And if I answered wrongly, and it had been a test, I'd wake up tied to tree...again."
Joey had pushed himself back up, and into his seat, and now had a pitying look on his face. "Dude... you need to find a girlfriend with a longer lea...chain."
"Too late; I caught the 'leash' part, mutt." Kaiba smirked.
"Darn."
"Anyway..." Yoh said testily, trying to stop another argument before it began. "The voice said my adventure began in the morning.. whatever that meant, and then I was on another mural platform..."
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Yoh was confused yet again; this mural was weird even compared to the first two. Another regal-looking young woman, this time in a completely pink dress, with blonde hair and a small crown, stood alone atop a tall tower. Below her, in the center, a ferocious battle was taking place between a turtle-like monster, with spikes all over it's shell, breathing flames as red as the length of hair it had, trying to incinerate... a short, slightly chubby man, wearing blue overalls, a red shirt and hat, the latter of which with a red 'M' emblem, wielding only a wooden mallet in defense of the fire.
The bizarre picture left his mind, however; several small Shadows appeared around him. After a short fight, the creatures retreated, and a long stairway appeared at the platform's side, leading to another in the distance.
He sensed more danger with every step, eventually reaching the new area. Unnatural vines and roots encircled a teenage girl, who had long black hair, a white and green high school uniform, and a fainly glowing arrow, about to shoot into the air. In the arrow's path was a small, pink, round jewel, which had an eerie light around it. Behind the girl, what appeared to be a shrine priestess her age looked away, her shadow going past the girl, seeming to be even larger than the mural could hold.
He stood in the strong pillar of light, near the girl with arrow, and his battle sense went haywire. 'The closer to get to the light, the stronger your shadow gets...even if your shadow made you seem insignificant before.'
From the shadow of the priestess rose a large being, it's chest appearing to be a gaping, heart-shaped hole. It's glowing yellow eyes stared down to Yoh, whose arm shook, the weight of the shield seeming to increase.
'But don't be afraid.' Yoh nearly gasped; it was a different voice. Apparantly much younger, with a more cheerful tone and easing sound than the earlier, deep, and forboading one. 'You possess the greatest weapon of all...'
The shadow moved to strike... and... changed.
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Yoh snapped out of his trance, finding himself literally back on that platform, the safety of the BEWGS long gone. The creature was taller than it had been... and, in fact, was not similar at all the prior one.
Burning red...long antlers to either side of it's head... it's arms and legs long and powerful... it's blue eyes burning even brighter than the rest of it's body.
Yoh struggled to breathe, but not just out of fear; an intense heat had surrounded him... the area was on fire. Spreading from the monster's feat, the flames soon circled him completely. The beast raised one collosal fist, and swept it downward to reduce the shaman to ashes...
And at the last moment, Yoh heard the voice again...the one from the cave at destiny islands...his own voice, yet somehow darker... crueler...
'You're so small...'
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Myoga: Gack! Master Yoh collapsed on me! Oh, right; I'm Myoga the Flea, and we have a problem on our hands! Yoh's out cold, and we reach the new world before he awakens! In this bizarre land, the humans of our group take on strange new forms, called 'Player Characters', and inherit incredible new skills! With these, the Heartless won't stand a chance against us, and I can rest easy...huh? It's only a GAME! Sorry, gotta run!
Next time, on Spirit of the Heart: The Ways of "The World." Ack! Monsters everywhere!
Chapter Uploaded: May 15th, 2005