Ergh, I'm full. Four pieces of pizza and a bacon cheeseburger.
XP Too much food.
Hold on, dear metabolism… hold on!
Muah.
-Lovely Catastrophe
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Chapter Three: Departure
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Auron was the first and only one to notice that Kairi was standing in the doorway. He cleared his throat, causing everyone to stop what he or she was doing and stare blankly over at him.
"The Princess has arrived." He stated simply, soon afterwards becoming quiet as before. Auron never said more than he needed to, and that was that.
Once they had been alerted to Kairi's presence, he was ignored anyways.
"You're here!"
Yuffie tackled the new arrival in a hug that threatened to squeeze the life out of the younger girl. This was awkward for Kairi: one, she didn't know who this chick was in the slightest, and two, she didn't find having her air taken away a very pleasant feeling…
But this feeling soon subsided as the female ninja set her down again, allowing her to draw oxygen back into her lungs and breathe. Air was good. Very good. And once said air was back in her system, she found her voice and spoke up.
"Um, yes. I'm here, I'm here. Um… and you are?"
Yuffie grinned, giving her the thumbs-up sign.
"I'm Yuffie! And that guy in the chair is Leon, and over there is Aerith…" She continued in this pattern until she had named everyone in the room, each acknowledging Kairi's presence in some way or form.
The Princess felt a little lost. Without King Mickey to tell her what was going to happen next, she was a bit unsure what she was supposed to say or do. Fortunately for her, Auron seemed to sense this, and he pushed himself upright off the wall, plucking his sword from the plywood floors. He had dealt with the same naivety with… well… a long time ago.
"Leon. If you would be so kind as to equip young Kairi here with her weapons, and if you, Aerith, would be a lovely girl and give her her clothing, then we could be on our way."
Leon looked up from his book, a slightly grumpy expression appearing on his face after being interrupted. But when Auron shot him a stern look, he quickly complied, pulling out a delicately wrapped package from beneath the chair. He then stood up and walked over to Kairi, handing the box to her.
It was long, and magically sealed, it seemed, as it emitted a slight, golden glow. Kairi examined the package with uncertainty. It was big; about four feet in length, but maybe only half a foot wide, and about half a foot tall as well. The box was relatively light, but heavy enough to indicate that there was indeed something inside.
She felt something hard nudge her shoulder lightly. It was the flat side of Auron's long sword, urging her to get things over with quickly. How he had appeared behind her without her knowing she wasn't exactly sure. That was just Auron.
"Go on, open it." His tone wasn't exactly harsh, but it WAS gruff enough to make her get on with it.
Kairi gingerly untied the string holding the package together, and cleared away the wrapping. She then lifted the lid of the box and discarded it, peering inside.
It was a long, silver bow, slender and perfect in shape (in fact, Kairi feared that if she touched it, she might just break it) and gilded with intricate designs so that any source of light would catch the bow and make it shine. She pulled it out of the box, finding it to be extremely lightweight and flexible; though, when she tugged on the string it rebounded with such strength that she was forced to remember that it was a weapon, not a toy.
She slung it over her shoulder, finding it to be a perfect fit, as if it had been waiting to be there the moment it was made.
There was also a quiver in the box—of the same material and design as the bow—and it was filled to the brim with perfectly trimmed arrows.
This she also slung 'round her back, feeling the snug fit of the leather strap and finding it to be a strangely natural… almost familiar thing for her. Then, interrupting her thoughts, Auron cleared his throat.
"They're more than pretty decorations, you know… Sooner or later you're going to have to learn how to actually USE them…"
He glanced at Leon, who held up his hands and shook his head vigorously.
"Don't look at me, I'm just the delivery boy."
Auron sighed, gently pinching his nose to relieve some stress.
"Fine… we'll get to THAT part later…
…Aerith? If you will… could you please help the Princess with her clothing now? The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"Oh! Y-yes, of course!" She was obviously intimidated by the swordsman, and flinched when he addressed her. Aerith led Kairi into another room in Merlin's house, all the while explaining the different features and blah, blah, blah about the clothing…
………………………
Meanwhile, on some other World, the Imagi twins had passed through the link that served as a bridge to the Dream World, and were surveying their new surroundings with absolute pleasure.
Silas had not accompanied them, however. He had stayed behind to carry out their plans in safety, leaving the Imagi to do the dirty work.
He had created for them ghost-like steeds: great, monstrous beasts that looked like oversized wolves. They had four, blood-red eyes on each side of their heads, and their shadowy fur bristled together so thick that if one were to touch it the wrong way, they'd get nasty cuts all over their hands.
They only obliged to carry their riders because they weren't strong enough to fight and refuse. And besides… they would not dare go against the orders of the Dreamweaver.
Eileen's mount reared, howling at the night sky of the World they were on, and then it brought its' paws back down upon the earth with a mighty crash. She smirked, patting one of the wolf-creature's ears gently.
"Easy now… you'll have blood before our mission is over. Just you wait."
Her smirk soon shifted into a determined frown, staring out at the land before her. The wind ruffled the white cloak Silas had given to her, and she drew the hood over her head. Beneath the cloak she wore all leather; clothing that had been emblazoned with the Dreamweaver's personal insignias. Her brother wore an outfit that was much the same, but he had discarded the cloak, not caring much for the way it looked.
Eileen turned to her brother, pulling tight on her mount's reins.
"Come, Aidan. It's time to do our jobs…"
"Yes, dear sister. As you wish—"
"There is one thing." She cut him off, seemingly annoyed with all of Aidan's pleasantries. "Silas informed us that the Worlds were disconnected, did he not? Yet I sense some change…"
Her wolf-creature growled, and she patted it before continuing.
"Helios tells me that they are whole again… as they were… before."
"Before?" Aidan echoed, though there was an amused sort of look on his face. "So… perhaps finding the link into these blasted worlds must have triggered such an event to happen. It's perfect, you know?"
"Yes… of course. When the Worlds' inhabitants begin to feud as they used to… It will make it ever so easy for us to conquer them all in one place. We must use this to our advantage."
Aidan nodded, thinking quietly to himself for a moment. Yes… to OUR advantage… But as soon as you turn your back, dear sister… Silas will regret ever letting me loose from that nightmare…
But he didn't have time to revel in his plans for betrayal for long.
"Damn it, Silas, move it. Stop sitting there like a moron and follow me. We don't have any time to waste." Eileen called, having already placed quite a bit of distance between them.
He smirked, kicking his mount in the sides to make it advance towards her.
I love you too, dear sister.
………………………
"Um…"
"Well? What do you guys think?"
"Most definitely the coolest! Heck, I'd kill for an outfit like that."
"Hmph."
"Oh, c'mon Squall, don't you have anything to say other than 'hmph'?"
"It's Leon."
"Whatever. But really, Kairi, it makes ya look all grown up!"
Kairi had never really liked being the center of attention. So now, with the entire group staring at her as if she was on display, she felt more self-conscious than ever.
The fairies that lived in Yen Sid's castle had sewn together the magical garments that the Princess was now wearing. A white blue tank top covered her upper body; it was lined with royal blue trim, and the back had a cute, but intricate heart sewn into the material. It had a hood attached to it, in case of unfavorable weather.
There were leather armbands that ran from her wrists to a little before her elbows, and they were the same royal blue color as the trim of her shirt. They had hidden pockets on the inside of them—for what, Kairi didn't know, but she had an idea that they might be for a small weapon…
Her tank top stopped an inch or two above her belly button, exposing her flat, tanned stomach. Hung around her waist was a large, dark blue belt with several buckles, magical bangles and key chains clipped on to it. The jeans were possibly the only normal part of the entire outfit. They were slightly faded and worn, and the cuffs were frayed a bit, but they were definitely comfortable.
She had also received a pair of black leather boots that zipped up just below her knees. They had silver crown insignias on them, and they were very flexible and light, as though she wasn't wearing shoes at all.
All in all, she felt quite… unsure about the outfit.
Her fairy escorts were watching her now: Rikku and Paine snickering to themselves, while Yuna had a more perplexed, thoughtful expression on her face.
Auron slung his sword over his shoulder.
"Now… are we all ready to go? We really should be heading out, Princess…"
Kairi blinked at him with uncertainty, but in reality she knew he was right. She had no more time to be embarrassed or hesitant about anything. It was time to do a little bit of growing up.
"Yes. I suppose you're right." She replied, and then turned to face Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith. "Thank you for everything. I'm just kinda sad that I didn't get a chance to stay and talk much…"
Yuffie grinned and winked at her.
"You can always come back to visit, Kairi! Especially once you take down those Ima-whozits. Kick some butt, okay?"
Aerith bowed slightly to the Princess, smiling warmly.
"Yuffie's right. We'd love to have you as our guest anytime. Stay safe, Princess."
Kairi then turned to Leon, who regarded her with a lazy sort of look, before he set his book down in the chair and rose to his feet.
"Ah… I'm really not so good at goodbyes… so… I won't say it. Be careful, kid."
She nodded, grinning at them all. Then, another nudge from Auron's big sword told her that she could waste no more time.
The fairy trio skittered out the door first, followed by Auron. Kairi walked after them, turning to wave for the last time, and then she ran to catch up with the rest of her group.
Her journey had begun.
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Rawr. For some reason, that chapter was really hard to write. I kept getting distracted… and hungry…
Mostly hungry.
Stupid stomach of mine.
Anyways, next chapter's coming up soon. I'll probably get it in tonight if I just keep on writing.
Plus, I think I've figured out who I'll be pairing our young heroine up with, I think… You'll just have to wait and see. And it might not be very obvious at first.
Reviews :3