Just a Shadow

Chapter 1: New Friends

Sora walked in the door of the accessory shop, closely followed by Donald and Goofy. "Hey Cid what's—a Heartless!" Sora exclaimed. He drew his Keyblade and Raine gulped.

"Calm down boy, I think this one is harmless." Said Cid, setting Raine down on the floor. She sat down and looked up at Sora, meeting his eyes. Sora stared back at her for a few moments before relaxing his hold on his Keyblade, Donald and Goofy following his lead. He leaned down and reached out his hand, which Raine shook. He smiled widely.

"Hey lil guy! I'm Sora. What's your name?" Raine tried to answer, but her voice came out in little squeaks. She tried again, frustrated. Sora's smile faded a little, but perked right back up. "No matter. I guess we'll just call you… Tiny!" He smiled widely yet again while "Tiny" sweatdropped.

"Since you're so familiar with the lil guy—" started Cid.

"Her name is Tiny!" said Sora.

"….How do you know it's a girl?"

"….I dunno. I just do."

"Fine, whatever. Since you're so friendly an all with Tiny, you can keep her."

"Really?! Thanks gramps!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! ….Ahem. Anyway, if you're gonna keep it—"

"Her."

"If you're going to keep her, you had better have her wear something so that you can tell her apart from the other Heartless more easily. FORTUNATELY, I have lots of accessories and things to choose from. I'll even give ya a discount, since you're so special an all."

"Really?! Thanks Gramps!"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT! ….Ahem. Anyway, just hurry up and pick something before I change my mind."

"Alright! See anything you like Tiny?"

Tiny (A/N Hehe) jumped up and grabbed onto the edge of the glass showcases, and with a little effort managed to scramble on top of them. She wandered from case to case, smearing the glass all the way. She didn't see anything she liked. She was on the last section when something caught her eye. She squeaked excitedly, pointing at it. Cid took it out of the case and held it in front of her. "Ya want this one then?" he asked, a little wierded out that he was talking to a Heartless as he would a human (or whatever else wandered into his shop). Tiny nodded excitedly.

"I've had this one for a long time." Cid explained as he rang it up on the cash register. "Nobody ever really seemed interested in it. I don't know why. It's a really nice piece of work. That'll be 200 munny."

Sora handed over the munny and slipped the necklace onto his new little friend. It fit nicely, oddly enough, as though it were made for her. The extremely short chain made up for her lack of size, and it only reached down to her middle. Sora picked Tiny up and set her on top of his head, where she stayed balanced and comfortable, being just the right size. She was amazingly light, even for such a tiny thing. He walked out of the store, Donald and Goofy following close behind. "Thanks Gramps."

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO—" Cid yelled, cut off by a snickering Sora shutting the door with a click and a jingle. He walked along, Goofy taking up a place on his right, Donald lagging behind him, staring up at Tiny, who was staring back.

Donald stopped walking. "Sora, are you sure that thing is harmless?" he said in his strange voice, glaring at the tiny shadow sitting on Sora's head.

"Of course I am! You're nice, right Tiny?" he said, trying without success to look up at his newfound friend. Tiny poked her head out from his mass of spiky brown hair (which was amazingly soft when you actually felt it) and nodded, smiling an invisible smile. "See?"

Donald sweatdropped. "It's not like it--"

"SHE."

"She would tell us if she were evil or not."

"Well I trust her, even if you don't."

Goofy, who had wisely remained silent throughout this discussion, decided to speak up. "If Sora trusts her, then I trust her." He said, looking up at Tiny. She threw him a thankful look, and he nodded.

"See! Goofy trusts her!" This was met with a 'hmph!' from Donald. They continued their walk to the gummy ship in silence. "…Where are we going again?"

"Wonderland." Said Donald, still P.O.ed. Tiny nearly fell off her spot on Sora's head.

'I. HATE. WONDERLAND!' she thought. It always gave her a headache, with its annoying music and bright colors. This was going to fun.

….

Note the sarcasm.

Kitty: That's it for this chapter. What will happen in Wonderland? Keep reading to find out! (No offense to Wonderland lovers.) The necklace (I couldn't find a place to describe it above) is a blue, heart-shaped crystal. It has a silver setting, and the silver wraps around it kind of like vines. On the bottom is a tiny piece of what looks like it was once a larger crystal that sticks off of it. It is on a thin silver chain- so thin it looks like thread, but it's really very strong. I think that's it. See you next chapter!

Sora: R and R please!