Heart of an Alchemist
(A/N)
Disclaimer: Me? Own Kingdom Hearts or FullMetal Alchemist? You flatter me so... nope.
Again I must apologize for my absence. There's no excuse and you'd better like this because I spent all Saturday and all Sunday typin' this! And for those who aren't informed, KH2 should be released on March 2006.
Chapter Nine
"No, it wasn't any animal that I've ever seen. It was some weird black thing. It looked like a big bug with yellow eyeballs."
This caught the threes attention right away.
It had to be a Heartless!
"Winry, how many were there? Was it just the black bug one or were there different kinds?" Sora asked seriously.
Winry was a bit surprised at his mood swing but answered his question. "No, it was just the black bug, but there were quite a few of them. And they just came out of nowhere. I mean I heard a few leaves moving around and when I looked behind me nothing was there. I turned back around and one just sprang up at me!
"I got this scar from one of them. I found my way to this camp and Jane took care of me while I was in really bad shape. I didn't tell her anything about being from another world, though; I wasn't sure how she'd take that. I mean she'd probably think I was…"
Winry went on, but the three weren't listening. They were all staring at each other with the same look in their eyes. If those little Heartless had shown up, then bigger and stronger Heartless would be showing up any day and destroy this world, just as they had to Destiny Islands.
"Sora," Winry said tapping him on the shoulder, bringing his mind back to the present. "Are you feeling OK? You look a little pale."
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Uh, Winry where did those Heart… uh, creatures attack you?" Goofy asked.
"Hard to say. I was really tired and wasn't exactly making a map, but I'm sure it was in the direction of the tree house." They all turned in the direction in which she pointed, glancing at the tall wooden house. "But anyway, have you guys found any slides? I've got a couple right here!" Holding up the slides, the others realized she wished to change the dreary subject.
"I've got one," noted Sora.
"Me too," added Donald.
Goofy climbed onto the top of one of a nearby luggage pile and slipped his hands around the top. "Hey, I've got another. That's two!"
"So six. I'm pretty sure that's all of them. Come one." Following Winry into the tent, Sora declared, 'Got 'em."
"Wonderful. The projector's all fixed up and ready to go. Tarzan, we're ready." Tarzan looked up from a book he held upside down. Jane grabbed the slides and slipped one in. Tarzan's gaze flew to the screen, staring at a large castle.
"Hey," Sora muttered.
Goofy looked at him questioningly. "What is it Sora?"
Sora looked at the castle blankly. A strange feeling rose in him. It was a familiar feeling, as if he had been to the castle before, numerous times. Also another feeling, like…
"Hey Jane, let's switch over to the next one, OK?" he suggested, an uneasiness in his voice. Jane looked questionably at him, but didn't bug for an explanation. Instead she slipped in the next five slides of a man offering flowers to a woman, a gorilla, a ship, a pretty woman in a flowing gown and two people fencing.
Jane slipped out the last slide, looking to Tarzan. "Well Tarzan?"
"Where are my friends? Riku and Kairi?" Tarzan shook his head as if he didn't know what Sora was talking about. "But earlier you--"
"That leaves just one place," Clayton interrupted, entering the tent. "Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now, but have yet to encounter these friends of yours. I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tarzan refuses to take us to them."
"Now Mr. Clayton, I honestly don't think Tarzan would--"
"Then take us there. Take us to the gorillas. Go–ril–las."
Tarzan looked at Sora. After moments, he nodded his head. "Are you sure, Tarzan?" Jane asked worryingly.
"Tarzan… see Kerchak."
"Kerchak?"
"He must be the leader. Perfect! I'll go along as an escort." Loading his gun with a new set of bullets, Clayton gave a strangely malicious smile. "After all, the jungle is a dangerous place."
"I'm coming too," Winry piped up.
"Then let's head out shall we? Tarzan." Tarzan marched out on his knuckles and didn't look behind. Clayton, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Winry all followed him out, leaving Jane alone to wonder if it was a good choice. Sora thought back to that first slide on the projector. He didn't think it too strange that it seemed familiar. Everyone has a deja vu feeling every once in a while. But he felt another feeling when he saw it. He felt his chest begin to burn with a confusing anger.
'Oh it's nothing! Probably just looked like a castle from a story I hated when I was a kid!' he thought trying to assure himself. Or at least he hoped so.
Tarzan led them all to the area Donald and Goofy had landed after falling out of the Gummi Ship, with a large pool of water filled with hippos. Tarzan jumped onto a nearby hippo's back and quickly jumped onto a little piece of land next to it. He looked back at them and he jumped to another hippo, and another 'till he got to the end of the little canopy and climbed up a vine. Sora and the others started doing the same, having a much harder time jumping from hippo to hippo without almost falling in the water. Donald made it first (he swam) and climbed up the vine sluggishly. Goofy got there next, then Winry. Sora jumped onto the spot of land and waited for Winry to get a good start climbing. He shook his shoes, relieving them of some water, when he could have sworn he heard a little 'yap' close by. Looking around, he didn't see much, except for an odd patch off vines covering a little hole. He bent down and tried to look inside.
"Sora? You coming up or what?" Winry asked from the top of the vine.
Sora leapt up and began to climb. "Sorry, just looking around." Sora advanced up the vine looking down at the odd clump of vines. He wanted to know what that was but knew he had more important things to do.
Reaching the top, Sora saw Tarzan conversing with a massive gorilla that startled Sora.
"Please Kerchak! Listen to me. I know the nesting grounds are secret, but I trust them. You see I want to help them because… because… well, they need us," Tarzan said to him in the grunting gorilla language. The giant gorilla, Kerchak, stood staring darkly at Tarzan. "Did you get that?" Goofy asked Donald and Winry. They both shrugged.
"Kerchak!" Tarzan went on. Kerchak looked upward, ignoring Tarzan's pleas. "Kerchak…" Kerchak turned in the long tree and climbed away, followed by a concerned-looking female gorilla nearby. Tarzan sighed.
"Duh, hey Donald…"
"What Goofy?"
"The big one seemed sorta' distracted, didn't 'e?"
"He did seem to be more interested in something else. What was he looking at?"
"The way he went, I'd say that's over near the tree house," Winry stated. "We can get there by climbing that vine."
"Right!" Sora ran to the vine she suggested and climbed up quickly, followed by the others, Tarzan taking a different route swiftly came to meet Sora up on higher land. They came upon a long bridge that connected to the other side of a long canyon, where the tree house was. The group raced across the bridge and up the steps.
Clayton stood pointing his gun into the doorway of the tree house, targeting a young gorilla playing with a globe. He set his finger on the trigger and…
"WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Donald yelled in Clayton's ear. His finger pulled the trigger, but the shot narrowly missed the playing gorilla because of his startled jump. The gorilla fled from the bottom area and climbed up onto a second canopy level, joining the monstrously large, Kerchak.
"What the heck are you doing!" Winry exclaimed, wishing she had a wrench nearby to bash him with. Tarzan jumped into the tree house's entrance. "Wait, Kerchak! Please!" he pleaded in "gorilla". A squall fired in Kerchak's eyes and he turned and walked away. "Terk…" he said to the other gorilla. The little gorilla – Terk – gave a sad look and walked after him. Tarzan looked back at Clayton, as Sora and the others surrounded him with angry glares.
"You don't understand, all of you. You see a… uh… a snake slithered by, you see. I saved that poor gorilla's life." Clayton looked around trying to sound as innocent as possible, but no one believed him. He rose to his feet and they all began walking back to camp, not saying one word along the way.
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"How could you do such a thing?" Jane yelled.
"Now Miss Porter, as I told you all I was not aiming for the gorilla."
"You are not to go near the gorillas again!"
"All because of one mishap? Come now… huh?" Everyone in the tent glared at Clayton. He took the hint and marched out of the tent. He tried calming himself by marching over to a table with a pot of tea and took a sip. "What am I doing with these imbeciles?" he started, chugging down the tea and gripping the cup firmly in his hand. "Blasted gorillas!" His voice rising. "I'll hunt down every last one of them! I'll track them down somehow! I'll stake my life on it!" The cup in his hand shattered to pieces, leaving small cuts on his palm that made him even more furious. He pulled out his pipe and lifted it to his mouth, when he heard a rustling in the leaves behind him. He spun around and pulled out his gun.
PPPPOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!
"What was that?" Jane asked as a gun was fired from outside. Sora, Donald and Goofy ran outside.
"You stay here!" Sora said to Winry and Jane. They skidded to a halt when they saw, "Heartless!" A group of blue and yellow monkey-looking creatures with dark masks around glowing yellow eyes surrounded a helpless, frightened gorilla just a few feet away. Sora ran forward and pulled the Keyblade from his blue belt, charging at the Heartless. The yellow monkey threw a banana peel at Sora's feet, sending him face-flat on the ground. Goofy charged and blocked the blue monkey Heartless's claws with his shield. He then spun around like a tornado and the edge of his shield sent colliding Heartless flying, some disappeared and others got right back up again.
"Good going, Goofy! Fire!" Donald yelled a foot or two away. A ball of fire shot from his wand and destroyed some of the stumbling Heartless. Sora jumped to his feet and slashed with the Keyblade, missing and having three sharp claws dig deep into his right cheek. He fell over again and clasped a hand to his bloody cheek. Another Heartless jumped at him, claws extended.
"Look out!" A flaring bullet struck the Heartless in its chest. Its body went limp and disappeared into a mass of dark mist. "Sora you can't hit it like that! It looks like its real good at close combat!" Winry said next to Donald as he kept shooting off magic spells.
"She's right Sora!" Donald said, sending another Heartless into death. "Use your magic!"
"Right, Freeze!" Sora yelled, sending a strong freezing wind out at the Heartless. They all tried holding their ground but most were sent flying against trees or rocks. Others froze almost completely in their place.
"How 'bout we warm them up, Goofy?" Donald said looking to the shivering Heartless.
"Sure thing!"
Donald sent a blast of fire at Goofy, who spun his shield in his hands. The fireball ricocheted off the shield and hit the monkey Heartless'. Winry fired her bullets at the last remaining few, all of them disappearing in a burst of smoke.
Sora and Goofy walked over to the gorilla. "Come on, we're not gonna hurt you," Goofy said. The gorilla still backed away in fear.
"What's that in its hand?" Winry pointed to a yellow and orange block gripped tightly in the gorilla's hand.
"Is that a Gummi Block, Goofy?"
"Sure is, Sora." Goofy reached out and tried to get it from the gorilla but it backed away again.
"Come on boys, you've got to be more gentle with him," Winry declared walking toward it. She got down on her knees and extended a hand towards it. The gorilla looked interested as soon as she did and walked – slowly – to her. It reached out its hand with the Gummi Block. Winry took it, startling the gorilla and tossed five yellow circles out of her hand. The gorilla ran after them and started munching on – what looked like – little pieces of a banana.
"Oh yeah, be gentle," Sora repeated sarcastically.
"Hey, do you want this piece of play dough or not?"
"Sorry." She tossed the little square to him.
"What is that anyway? It doesn't exactly look edible or anything. And what was that weird thing you did with the fire and the ice!"
"I'll explain later," Sora said.
Tarzan crouched down next to the other gorilla, talking to it in grunts and mumbles.
"Jane… trouble," he said. "Jane… danger. Near tree house."
"Jane's in trouble? Let's go Sora!" Winry immediately ran after Tarzan to the lake, as well as Sora, Donald and Goofy.
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"Jane are you here?" Winry shouted in a mass of trees and vines.
"Winry?" came Jane's voice. They all ran around a large tree and saw Jane huddled up with the gorilla, Terk.
"Jane…. Fine?" Tarzan asked.
"Yes, oh. Something's strange is happening."
"What happened?" Sora asked as Tarzan conversed with Terk.
"I'm not quite sure. I was in the tent then Clayton came and… and… that's really all I can remember."
"Clayton?"
"Gorillas trapped… Terk ran."
"Sora you have to help the Gorillas, all of you. I'll stay with this one."
"All right."
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Sora and the others ran through the jungle trying to find Clayton. But there was no sign of him, not an animal was in sight. Only Heartless kept appearing. And the direction they were headed in, the flow of the shadow monsters kept getting stronger. That meant one of the big boss Heartless must be in that direction. They all charged past the camp sight, attacking only the Heartless that blocked their path.
They finally came upon a cliff where they saw Clayton pointing a gun at Kerchak.
"No!" Sora yelled. Clayton turned around casually as if Sora had only said for him to stop trying to take the last cookie in the cookie jar, instead of don't kill anyone. "Clayton, what's wrong with you?"
"Not Clayton! E-oo-ooh-ooh-hah. Not Clayton!" Tarzan proclaimed. Clayton raised his gun and shot at Sora.
"Sora!" Goofy jumped in front of him and blocked the bullet. Clayton put his finger on the trigger again but Winry shot first. Her bullet knocked the gun out of his hand and grazed his shoulder. Blood seeped out of the light wound, but Clayton acted as if nothing had happened. He reached down and picked up his gun, taking a few steps back.
WAM!
The cliff wall behind him blew to pieces as if some invisible force had smashed it. Clayton suddenly rose up into the air.
"What!" Sora yelled.
"How's he doing that, Donald?"
"I don't know, Goofy."
"Look! It's like he's sitting on some invisible horse or something," Winry stated. Indeed, it looked like Clayton was sitting on top of something none of them could see. Winry took out one of her Tonfa guns and shot a foot below where Clayton floated. The bullet froze in midair and a dark liquid dripped from the bullet.
"It must be some kind of invisible Heartless!" said Goofy. Tarzan sprinted forward, but was pushed back immediately by nothing they could see. As Tarzan flew back, they heard a strange noise that sounded something like a gargling squeal – or close enough. Sora jumped up and slashed at the invisible Heartless. His arm was forced back. That settled it; there was definitely a Heartless there.
Sora, Goofy and Tarzan ran forward with their weapons and shield. Winry and Donald fled to higher parts of the cliff and attacked from afar. Winry shot her bullets in the same general area as her first bullet. The transparent creature seemed to be angered by this greatly, lashing out viciously at the three near it. Donald followed her lead and fired his magic spells around the same effective area. Clayton fired random bullets at Donald and Winry but they ducked quickly. So far for them it seemed to be going OK for them.
Sora, Goofy and Tarzan on the other hand, weren't looking so good. The shots Winry and Donald made caused the creature to go into an uproar. It lashed at them, not giving them time to attack and they were getting tossed as if they were plush dolls!
"Cure!" Donald yelled, trying to keep them from getting too cut up. Donald had to cast healing spells so much because the three down below were getting wounded every minute. Winry was the one making the main shots. The Heartless was so distracted by the people around it, it didn't even notice her, making it even more confused at whom one earth was shooting it. But Clayton wasn't as preoccupied. He looked up and saw her. Lifting the gun and targeting, he had a clear shot.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Everyone looked up at Winry. The bullet from Clayton's gun pierced her in her lungs. She fell to the ground as blood sprayed from her chest.
"WINRY!" Sora yelled. He stared at her laying body as her chest moved up and down rapidly as if she were suffocating. Tears formed in his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want this. He never expected anyone to die. Then he did the only thing he could do.
"You… why you!" He lunged at the invisible Heartless, cutting through its invisible skin. Donald ran over to Winry and used his cure spells. Sora repeatedly struck at the Heartless, missing several times. Tarzan threw his spear a foot or so in front of Clayton and it froze in midair. The creature gave a screeching cry and Clayton bobbed madly up and down.
Green, scaly skin formed in front of their eyes. A giant chameleon Heartless swung its head round and round, the spear stuck right in its forehead. The reptilian Heartless's eyes began to glow and meteors the size of small boulders, glowing with the same bright light, came flaring from its eyes, smashing into Sora and the others. Sora was sent flying across the cliff bass and into a wall.
Sora looked up and saw Donald lying bruised and cut on the ground. Donald wasn't moving and he was the only one who could use any cure spells. Goofy kept covering Tarzan with his shield, and Tarzan, as wounded as he was, jumped from behind and hit the Heartless with his spear that he had taken back. Sora set his head down.
'We'll never win. The Heartless is too strong. We are all hurting like heck and that Heartless looks as good as new…' Sora's head rose. How could that be? They had made plenty of great shots. It should at least have one scratch on it. 'Just a minute ago when it was visible, there were plenty of cuts and burns on it. Now it looks fine…'
Tarzan made a deep graze across the Heartless's front leg. A dark liquid oozed out a little then ran down its leg and the cut was gone! Sora rose up some more and watched Tarzan. Tarzan sliced open his skin across the Heartless's nose. More liquid oozed out and it was fine again. But that's not what caught Sora's attention. A little crystal sat in the middle of a horn on the chameleon's nose. He watched more as Tarzan cut it. The wounds always healed after the little crystal gave off a small light.
"TARZAN! GOOFY!" Sora cried, jumping to his feet and running toward the Heartless. "Aim for that crystal in its horn!"
Goofy gave Tarzan a little boost and he landed on the Heartless's neck behind Clayton. Aiming his gun, Clayton fired for Tarzan. Tarzan ducked low and smacked Clayton in the gut, sending him into unconsciousness. Tarzan ran to the Heartless's head and thrust his spear into the crystal. Tugging the spear out, the crystal flew out as well, leaving a gash in the monster's horn. Only this time it didn't heal.
"Yes!" Sora yelled. He ran forward, completely forgetting the pain in his body and thrust the Keyblade deep into the Heartless's forehead. Tugging the Keyblade free, the Heartless fell to the ground. It and Clayton disappeared and a little heart flew off into the sky. Sora walked over to the crystal lying on the ground, feeling triumphant.
"Winry? Donald?" came Goofy's sad voice. Sora turned around. Goofy and Tarzan were kneeling next to Donald and Winry's motionless bodies.
"No…" came his words in a whisper. 'Winry… Donald…' Goofy lifted Donald up into a sitting position, Donald's feathered hand was wrapped around his other arm. He was alive, but blood poured out of his wounds and he took deep, quick breaths. Winry on the other hand, wasn't moving at all. Tarzan sat next to her, trying to shake her awake. But her body lay motionless. 'No… Winry… Donald. You can't go. You weren't supposed to get hurt.' Tears streaked down his face. His fist clenched around the Keyblade. 'Why'd this have to happen?' Lifting the Keyblade, his grip tightening. 'No. You…'
"You can't die!" Sora threw the Keyblade strait down. The metal tip collided and smashed the healing crystal to pieces. A bright light flew from the Keyblade's end and surrounded Sora and the others. A Warmth fell over them and their wounds instantly healed. The glowing wind faded and they were all surprised. Their bruises, cuts, and other wounds were completely gone.
"Errr…" They all looked over. A blue hat on top of a white feathery head rose off the ground. Donald looked around, his body back in perfect shape.
"Donald!" They all yelled. Sora ran over to them and before he knew what he was and doing threw his hands around the short duck.
"What do you think your doing?" he said, trying to push Sora off with his tired arms. "Come on, your getting me all wet. Stop cryin'!"
"Sorry," he said jumping off and whipping away his tears. He looked to his left and saw Tarzan's ear up next to Winry's heart. Sora sniffed, "Is she OK?"
"Winry… heart… good." Tarzan picked her up in his arms. Sora got up next to her. A small scar lingered where the bullet had hit her and the scar along her shoulder was hardly visible. Aside from that she looked fine.
"Winry," he said softly. "You feelin' all right?" For a moment she said nothing. Then her eyes opened slightly. "Winry!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his joy. She winced.
"Do you have to be so loud?"
"Oh, sorry," he said softening to a whisper.
"Heh, gave you a real scare there didn't I?"
"No kidding."
"Yeah, well don't expect to get rid of me that easily."
"Never again," he said smiling. "Ahhh!" A giant hand grabbed the back of Sora's jacket and tossed him onto a far ledge surrounded by waterfalls. Goofy and Donald landed next to him. He jumped up and saw Kerchak standing where he just was. Kerchak turned his back and walked away, followed by the other gorillas. Jane came from the bamboo thicket, avoiding walking into the gorillas' pathway.
"Oh dear, is Winry all right?" she exclaimed. He gave a short nod.
"Jane come." With Winry in hand, Tarzan walked over to the ledge and climbed up. He reached his arm out to help Jane up. He then walked off into a dark cave holding Winry.
"Where's he goin'?" Goofy asked.
"I'm not quite sure, actually. I've never seen this part of the jungle before. Oh, let's catch up to him before we lose him." They all trotted into the cave after Tarzan.
The cave was quite large. On the other side of the cave was a glowing blue door, covered in flowers and vines, blue butterflies hovering around it.
"Tarzan home," Tarzan said, standing in front of it with Winry resting in his arms. "E-oo-ooh-ooh-hah."
"This is your home?" Sora asked. "But that means…"
A sound echoed throughout the cave. "What's that?" Goofy asked.
"The waterfalls," said Jane. "They must be echoing all the way here."
"E-oo-ooh-ooh-hah. Friends here. See friends."
"Oh I've got it now. 'E-oo-ooh-ooh-hah' must mean heart. Friends in our Hearts."
"E-oo-ooh-ooh-hah. Heart."
"Oh, so that's what it means," Sora said disappointedly. He had hopped it had something to do with Riku and Kairi.
"Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends."
Sora turned to Donald. "Hey Donald, I'm sorry about what I said."
"I'm sorry too."
Goofy came and put his hands on both of their shoulders. "Yeah, all for one, huh?"
"Right!" Donald and Sora said together.
Suddenly, the end of the Keyblade glowed, redirecting itself towards the glowing door and a bright beam shot from its end and into a keyhole shape that was hidden behind some vines. They all heard a little click and Goofy noticed something on the ground. He walked up to the door, picking something off of the ground.
"Hey look you guys! It's a Gummi. But it sure ain't the King's." Donald felt a little rub against his leg. He turned and saw the gorilla, Terk, looking at him fondly.
Jane laughed. "It looks like someone has a new admirer."
"No way! Daisy would kill me!" Donald yelled backing away from Terk. Everyone laughed as Terk began chasing Donald as he ran from her.
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"What could have drawn that Heartless there?" came a voice out of the darkness. The hologram of Sora, Donald and Goofy in the cave played out across the table, a group of people watching.
"The hunter," Maleficent said. "His lust for power lured them there, but it seems the bait was much too tasty for his own good."
"Yeah! He got chomped instead! Hahahahahaha!"
"Shut up!" yelled a woman. "But what do you expect of a weak-hearted fool like himself? He stood no chance against the Heartless."
"The boy is becoming a problem! He has already found another of the Keyholes!"
"Calm yourself, Jafar. True he has found it slightly quicker then we intentionally planned but he remains blissfully unaware of our other plan."
"The princesses?" Jafar questioned.
"Yes."
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"But Winry, are you sure your feeling up to it?" Sora asked. It had been only one day since defeating the chameleon Heartless and they needed to find the Gummi ship. Winry jumped up from her resting place and said she'd help but Sora didn't think she should.
"'Course I am. Now where do we want to go?" she asked marching out of the tent.
"Well, we think the Gummi ship fell somewhere near the tree house, right Donald?"
"Right Goofy. But I don't think you should be doin' anything but resting, Winry. Just because we said you could come along doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."
"Whatever, Donald. If I'm coming I wanna earn my keep. I'm not gonna let you guys do all the work while I'm snoozing."
"Gawrsh, Winry he's right though. You should be--"
"You know, Goofy, Donald, there was actually something I wanted to check out. It wouldn't be doing too much work. So how about it Winry? Want to come?" Sora asked.
"Sure, anything's better then staying here and oversleeping."
"Doh, all right. Meet us here later so we can go to the Gummi Ship if we find it." Donald and Goofy went off in search of to search the jungle for the ship.
"So, what 'grand adventure' are we embarking on today, Sora?" Sora started walking over to the hippo pond.
"Follow me." They hopped across the hippo backs until they reached the vine they had taken to the nesting grounds. "I heard something over here earlier. I wanted to check it out." Sora pulled the odd twist of vines and looked inside the dark hole. The two could faintly see three little pairs of golden-brown and blue eyes staring at them. Winry reached in and pulled out a little white puppy with little black spots all over it.
"A puppy!" Winry exclaimed. The little Dalmatian pup tried getting away from Winry, but after a few strokes on its head it was content. The other two puppies in the hole cautiously walked out. Sora grabbed them and began tickling their bellies. "What would these little guys be doing in a jungle?"
"Oh I have an idea," Sora said, thinking back to what Aerith said in Traverse Town.
"Well, in town there are two Dalmatians who's puppies have all disappeared. Leon has been very worried about them so I was wondering if you might--"
"Sure thing Aerith."
"Come on," Sora said. "There might be some others around.
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"What took you so… hey! What's with the mutts?" Donald said. Winry and Sora each had four puppies cradled in their arms, four more trailing behind them. The four puppies following them instantly ran over to Goofy and began licking him and munching on his shoes.
"I think they might be those Dalmatian puppies from Traverse Town. You know, the ones Leon was so worried about," Sora said with a wink, thinking how silly Leon would look playing with the pups.
"So, what'd you bring them here for? We're not taking them on the ship."
"But Donald, we can't just leave them here!"
"Yeah, that would be animal cruelty! You should know a little something about that," Winry added.
"Come on Donald, look at the li'l fellas." Donald turned to Goofy who held the pups in his arms, all five of the canines giving him the sad eyes. He turned back to Sora and Winry to avoid their sad gazes, only to find them doing the same thing.
"Grrrrrr… all right! All right! Just stop making those stupid faces!"
Everyone cheered around him.
"So did you find the Gummi Ship?" Sora asked, scratching one of the pups' bellies.
"Yeah, it was near the tree house. Surprised we didn't see it earlier."
Sora picked up four of the pups. "Let's head off then." The others picked up a group of four pups and they set off for the tree house.
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"Oh. My. God!" Winry shrieked. "It's… it's beautiful!" She touched every edge of the Gummi Ship, shouting about the work and craftsmanship and detail.
"Hey, stop that!" came a little squeaky voice. She looked left and right but saw no one. "Down here!" they shouted. Winry looked at the foot of the door and saw two little chipmunks, one with a small black nose, and the other with a red large nose. "Could you not put your dirty fingers all over the place! We've got to keep this place clean you know!"
"Sorry about that. Those are Chip and Dale," Donald said.
"Don't call us 'those'!" The black nosed chipmunk, Chip, exclaimed.
"Those keep the place clean and work on the mechanics," Donald said ignoring Chip's order.
"'Mechanics'? Like how to make it work? The nuts and bolts of this beauty!" Winry's eyes flared with excitement.
'Ed wasn't kidding when he said she was a machine freak!' Sora thought. 'Uh-oh.' Edward. He hadn't thought about Ed for a bit. They had to go back to Traverse Town immediately to ask Leon about those weird keyholes. He hadn't thought about what would happen when Ed and Winry met up again. Should he tell her Ed was there, or just let them come face to face?
"Come on, Sora. Don't wanna get left behind!" Goofy said.
"Oh, sorry." Sora ran into the engine room of the ship. Winry was jumping around. She was as excited as a porcupine in a balloon factory. 'Nah, I think I'll let her enjoy the ride for a while.' Sora followed the others up the ladder and into the cockpit. Winry was even more excited in there. It looked like she wanted to touch every button there, but she jumped back as if every one was a self-explode.
"Don't touch anything," Donald said seeing her nervous excitement. "Just sit down and hold tight." Winry sat in the chair next to Goofy and held her chair firmly. "Here we go." Donald pushed the acceleration lever to medium speed and they zoomed off into the sky.
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Winry stared out the window, 20 or so minutes after they took off. They had just passed the pink hearts world they had visited before. Jiminy Cricket dropped in and talked about the worlds and Heartless. He said that the world where they'd met Alice was called 'Wonderland' and the world where they had met Tarzan and Jane was called 'Deep Jungle'. He also named some of the Heartless.
"Hey Jiminy," Winry asked, "Why are the worlds so small? They seem more like big towns than an entire planet."
Jiminy's expression grew grim. "I'm sorry to say this but since the Heartless came and the worlds were connected, pieces of the worlds have been disappearing."
"Disappearing?"
"Yes. The darkness is destroying them. The worlds start off as a large planet, but are broken down by the darkness and are now the small areas you see here."
"That's terrible. Do you think my world's been destroyed?"
"It might have been. Most people don't end up on other worlds like you did unless their homes are destroyed."
"Oh…" she said sadly. She walked over to the box the puppies were in – Chip and Dale had insisted on putting them there so they wouldn't break anything – and stroked one's head as it napped.
Goofy looked out the window. "Hey, we're almost to Traverse Town."
"Really?" Sora asked. Goofy nodded. "Um, Winry."
"Yeah, Sora?"
"I've kinda got something to tell you. It's about your friend, Edward Elric."
She stared at him, her eyes filled with a mix of joy and fear. "You
know Ed!"
Jiminy's Journals - Jiminy Cricket here! I'm going to start showing you my journals of the Heartless and their names, because Caita(DreamstoneX) is getting tired of just putting their appearences and would like to call them by name.
Shadow - Little bug-like Heartless that are extremely tenacious. They sneak up behind their opponent as a shadow on the ground, then strike with their claws. First appearence: Chapter Four
Darkside - An enourmous Heartless with a mighty fist, usually appears with Shadows. First appearence: Chapter Four
Soldier - Resembles a Shadow that wears armor. They have brisk movements and rush into their opponent. Though they appear in numbers they lack teamwork. First appearence: Chapter Six (just before Gaurd Armour)
Gaurd Armor - A Heartless that is a large, empty suit of armor. It falls apart when receiving damage but each part attacks individually. First appearence: Chapter Six
Trickmaster - A Heartless weilding flaming maracas. Its herky-jerky attacks and juggling make it seem flustered. First appearence: Chapter Seven
Powerwild - Looks like a blue monkey. It attacks in combinations and is best at close-range combat. First appearence: Chapter Nine
Bouncywild - Looks like a femanine yellow monkey. They scamper around, making them a tough target and attack from afar with a slingshot. First appearence: Chapter Nine
Stealth Sneak - Large chameleon-like Heartless that can manipulate light to appear invisible. First appearence: Chapter Nine
(A/N)
Well that's all for now, hope you liked it, Review!