Remnant of the Key

by lyokoMARVELanime

Adopted from FandomBard12. Four Keybladers meet four huntresses while on a quest to recover a lost friend. Now, their destinies shall become intertwined as they fight against darkness of both Remnant and beyond. The question is, just what else will come from this meeting between the two?

2. The Shining Beacon

AN: Yeah, believe it or not, the second chapter of this story is already up and out there, so welcome back one and all, to Remnant of the Key!

[audience applause]

Yeah, I want to get this story up to the point where the original version had left off as quickly as possible, but another reason why I've worked so hard to get this newest chapter out is because, quite frankly, I've had a lot of RWBY & Kingdom Hearts stuff on my mind lately. Hence part of the reason why I started up RWBY Meetings, and part of the reason why I've recently worked to update at least one or two of my Kingdom Hearts stories. Now that I've got this one going, is it really that much of a surprise that I'd be working as much as I could to get this story well rolling?

Ruby: Not at all, if you ask me. Plus, I'm really excited about this chapter. Our side of the story gets featured a lot more today, and I finally get to meet Sora and his pals!

Sora: Hey, you're not the only one from your world that we meet here, Ruby. I mean, we do get to meet a lot of the others too.

Yang: Well yeah, but given how this chapter is set up, it looks like Ruby is the most important person to meet today.

AN: Okay, okay. You guys can discuss the levels of importance that each character meeting has at another time. Right now, I've got some reviews to answer before we move along.

First off, "Dracus6", I just said at the end of the last chapter that Ven&Weiss were going to be a thing, and that Roxas was dating Xion in this story. Didn't you read that in the ending note? I mean, I did make it a point to mention stuff like that, so it kinda hurts that it seems like you ignored me there, dude.

Next up is our old friend "Monkey D. Conan". It's a little hard for me to really give an exact estimate on how long we'll be dealing with, as you put it, "Bitter Sora", but don't worry. He won't be staying that way for too long, and there will be a good number of moments where we see some of good old Classic Sora coming out. Though it will mostly be around a certain individual or two, if you get what I mean. (wink-wink).

Now, "Lucien - Herald of Oddity", yes, Lea is going to be a student at Beacon, and I get that setting him up as Yang's love interest might be a little weird, but saying that he's like 30-something? I feel like that's either an exaggeration or an overestimation on his age. I mean, he looked like he was close to the same age as Ventus when he showed up in Birth By Sleep, and if he was really made a Nobody like a year later when Xehanort started the next step of his big, overcomplicated master plan, then he would have only been a year older. Technically speaking, in that case, he'd only be like twenty-something, but I doubt that he really counts the years that passed during his time as Axel as part of his life as Lea. Besides, this does have a few AU elements to it, so...yeah, gotta keep that in mind.

Blake: You seem to do that a lot with your Kingdom Hearts stories.

AN: Well it can't really be helped in this case, even if I did follow KH3's canon story line to the letter. It'd still be an AU even at this point, seeing as KH4 will likely have a much different plot to it from anything that any of us can think of.

Moving on, "Hamm1999", I will try to work in a few of Disney's running gags, if I can, but I'm not sure what you're referring to when you mention a Stan Lee cameo. Are you talking about something in one of my stories, or in regards to something you were expecting in Kingdom Hearts 3? Just wondering about that.

"Dragon Rider 66", my man. I know it's a little surprising to see me starting a story like this when we're this close to the release of Volume 7, but keep in mind, this is starting from the very beginning of RWBY, so I'd say I've still got plenty of time to work my way up to that point. Now, regarding your question about abilities and equipment that our main focus team will have, I will say that you'll get a sample of what they can do here in today's chapter, and I'll go into a bit more detail about all of that in the ending note as well. And yes, I do already have something in mind for Oscar. In fact, you may even see a little preview of what I have in mind for him a bit later on in this story.

Finally, rounding it down to "CT7567Rules", in regards to your question about my cover art, I make 'em all myself with a little bit of Photoshop magic. Not always as easy as it sounds, let me tell you right now. Trust me.

Also, for those of you who had thoughts about Kairi fusing with Ruby, or any other characters, I suppose I was not all that clear last chapter when I said that Kairi was not going to be any of the RWBY characters. Kairi's not going to be fusing or having her heart take refuge inside of anyone from Remnant. She's still going to be herself. There will be no Kairi literally ending up inside of someone else's heart this time. That's not going to be a thing in this story.

Weiss: Well can you blame them for thinking that? I mean, it does seem like a reasonable excuse for why Sora would end up eventually falling for Ruby. Even if he doesn't officially admit it until around the time of...

AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits the button]

Sora: Oh no, here we go. It's like every story he ends up doing this.

Weiss: Doing what? [suddenly gets blasted by several freeze rays until she's stuck in a thick block of ice]

Yang: Hey, check it out. The ice queen has been stopped cold.

AN: You know, that one's actually not bad.

Yang: Thanks.

AN: Okay, so while we wait for that ice holding Weiss to thaw, or for her to just make it melt in an instant with her temper, let's rock and roll with the next chapter!

I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or RWBY franchises, or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

---

Chapter 2: The Shinning Beacon

In all of his time in the Organization, the one thing that Lea had wanted to do was not have his peaceful sleep disturbed. Obviously that never happened, considering how tight of a ship Saïx and Xemnas ran in that accursed castle. After he came back as a normal person again, he knew that he was still going to have that problem when he went to go and learn how to use a Keyblade, but he was not complaining about it that much. He was willing to do anything to get his best friends back, even if he did not really remember one of them at the time. Now, with all the fighting done, he felt like he could be left to sleep in peace without any trouble at all. So he really had to wonder why someone was trying to wake him up when all he wanted to do right now was stay in dreamland.

"Axel…Axel! Come on, Axel, wake up," a familiar voice called out, and the tall redhead slowly opened his eyes.

"Ven," Lea asked, mainly because his vision was still a little blurred from having just woken up. "I thought you said you weren't going to call me that."

"Guess again, buddy. It's Roxas," the blonde blur corrected.

"Roxas," Lea repeated as his vision finally cleared up enough for him to see that it was indeed the former Number XIII of the old Organization standing over him. "Oh, right. No shoulder armor. Sorry."

"Hey, there are plenty of other differences between me and Ven," Roxas retorted. "For example, my jacket is all white with a bit of a checker pattern, while Ven's is half white and half black, split down the middle."

"Yeah well, the shoulder armor is the more noticeable difference between you two. Everyone thinks so," Lea teased, getting a small shove from his good buddy in return for the remark.

"Come on, wise guy. Sora and Ven need some help with checking over the ship. Gotta make sure we can still fly the thing before we send out a distress signal after all," Roxas informed the former Flurry of Dancing Flames.

Lea nodded in return and then followed Roxas out of the slight ruined cockpit. The room was not too badly messed up of course, but there were a few consoles that had been left in disarray from the crash, and some were even sparking a little. They both made a point to avoid the areas that the electric flashes were coming from the most, and moving through the ship's hallways showed that the rest of the ship was not too bad off either. There was not too much rubble blocking pathways, and only a few walls had been broken open so that wires could hang out from them. When the two best friends finally found their way to the main hatch and outside, they quickly spotted Sora and Ventus looking over any areas of the ship that were not currently hidden by the cloaking device for one reason or another. Those spots did not stay in view for long, because the minute that Sora had finished his work in one spot, the area in question quickly disappeared behind the cloak soon after.

Looking over to the hatch, Ventus immediately waved to the two with a smile that many would describe as Sora-like, prompting the two to join up with the other half of their group. "Glad to see you're okay, Lea," Ven greeted once the two had joined him.

"Wish I could say the same about the ship," Lea half-joked in return. "Just how bad is it?"

"Not as bad as it could've been, but it still could be better," Sora reported. Being the only one in the group who had traveled between worlds on gummi ships most, the other three were more than willing to defer to Sora's expertise on this matter. Said expertise was very considerable, given that Sora actually took some time at one point on his first journey to talk with Cid about all things relating to gummi blocks. He may not be as big of an expert as the gummi block engineer in question, but Sora was still good enough to make the assessments that they needed here. "Primary steering was completely shot after the computer overheated, along with the secondary engines, but both shouldn't take too long to fix, especially since this ship is equipped with a self-repair gummi. Luckily the cloak was only damaged in a few areas after we scraped some of the trees on the way down, which is a pretty easy to fix even for Donald or Goofy."

"And what's the bad news," Roxas inquired.

"Well, our crash-landing caused some damage to one or two of the main engines, and a lot of the other systems we would need to leave a world. Those will take weeks to repair, and even then, we won't be able to use the warp gummi for at least another week after that," Sora revealed.

"So basically, we can't get flying again, and even when we do, we'll have to travel to other worlds the old fashioned way," Lea simplified.

"Pretty much; yeah," Sora confirmed. "Just be glad that all of the ship's map data on the highways that were recently opened and locations of various worlds is still intact, otherwise it wouldn't have mattered at all if the warp gummi was damaged or not."

"At least it can't get much worse," Ventus shrugged, trying to look on the bright side of things.

Not even seconds later, a low growling sound was heard from somewhere behind him, followed by another, and another, and more still, indicating that the four were not alone in these woods. When they each turned to the sources of those growls, the first thing that the group saw were vicious looking red eyes glaring back, followed by a horrific sight that made many of the Heartless look tame in comparison. Coming out from the shadows of the trees was a pack of what they could most closely describe as wolves, even though most of them were standing upright on their hind legs, all of which had bone-like armor on their bodies, along with horrifying masks with red markings around the eyes. What really spooked the four was that these things gave off a feeling similar to that of the Heartless, and yet at the same time, they felt just as empty as Nobodies.

These snarling wolf creatures continued their low growling as they closed in on the four, circling them a little like hungry animals that were ready to pounce on their prey at any moment. That was probably a very apt metaphor, given the group's situation, because they definitely felt like prey right now, but no true Keyblade wielder would ever go down without a fight, and these four were no different. Proof of this came in the fact that they had all summoned forth their Keyblades and assumed their battle stances so that they could either strike or defend at a moment's notice, but that did not seem to bother the monsters too much, as they just kept growling, and in some cases even barking at the four boys.

Seeing how their situation had taken a turn for the worse, Lea could not help but look over at the blonde he had first met years ago in Radiant Garden and comment, "You just had to say it, didn't you?"

As Ventus shrugged in apology, the group noticed that a few more similar creatures began joining the wolf monsters. The only difference was the kind of animal that the creatures took after. Most of the new arrivals looked like vicious boars, while the others could be compared to a menacing bear, but the one thing that they all had in common was that they all gave off the same feeling as the wolf monsters: the menacing, darkness of a Heartless mixed together with the emptiness of a Nobody. Seeing all of these different types of the same monster surrounding them, with all of the creatures giving off that same terrifying feeling definitely put the boys on edge, and they could not help moving until they were all practically standing back-to-back with one another, while keeping themselves positioned between the ship and the creatures. Their stare down with the monsters continued for a few more, very tense minutes, until finally, Sora decided to take action and attack.

Waving his Keyblade as he cast an ice spell, Sora not only caused some of the monsters to become frozen in ice, but also created a short ice path towards them. He immediately jumped onto said path, and his body then lit up with the blue aura of his Flowmotion powers as he slid along the ice. When he came to the end, he allowed his Flowmotion to launch him into the air, where he then built up a charge of the power into his Keyblade, enabling him to unleash a powerful shockwave when he next struck the ground. He did not stop there though, as he immediately cast a quick blast of Firaga while rolling to the side, incinerating the boar-like monsters when the fireball when he did. Upon coming out of the roll, Sora quickly spun around and raised his Keyblade high into the air to call down a rain of lightning bolts via Thundaga. His spell easily struck multiple targets, most of them the monster wolves, and a few being the monster bears, and even still, Sora did not stop moving for a minute as he charged forward to unleash some more basic, yet still strong slashing attacks.

The other three boys just stared in awe of what Sora had just pulled off, having never really taken the time to see Sora in action before now. Sure, they had more than a few chances, but a good majority of those times were moments when they were all fighting for their lives against Xehanort's thirteen Seekers of Darkness during the Second Keyblade War, so they could not really stop and take note of very much. Either way, they were not about to let Sora take all the fun for himself, and Ventus proved that when he rushed forward to cut down a monster wolf when it was close to getting the drop on Sora. One impressive display of speed and athletic agility later, and Ventus had managed to slash through multiple different monsters all on his own, showing that he was practically back to the strength level he held before he fell into his deep, comatose-like slumber. At one point, he even gained the chance to unleash his old Command Style, Fever Pitch, and used its power to tear apart several of the bear-like beasts, but it did end up leaving him a little more tired than he remembered being after using the ability all those years ago.

Luckily, Ventus was not the only one who could help out in the fight, as Lea proved when he transformed Flame Liberator into his old chakrams and tossed them through several of the monster boars. When the spiked, flaming disks returned to his hands again, they returned to Keyblade-form and Lea was rushing off into battle once again. Despite not having a Keyblade as long as the rest of his friends, Lea was still pretty good, as evidenced by the combos he performed that would see him spinning the blade around while in-hand, but it was that did not make it any less clear that he was still getting used to fighting with it as opposed to his old weapons. That was not to say that Lea was a terrible swordsman, but he could certainly stand to improve in that area quite a bit, as shown when a few of the boar-monsters slipped past his guard and rammed their large tusks into his exposed side more than once.

Thankfully, Roxas was not about to let his best friend go it alone, and his skill wielding two Keyblades had not dulled in the slightest. All of the powers he had used in the fight against Isa were still as strong as ever, and he made it a point to pay back the boars that attacked Lea by cutting them down with both Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Afterwards, it was just a simple matter of tearing through any other monsters that dared to approach him with his impressive display of rapid sword swings and strikes, and he would often times even use his old powers over light to infuse the blades with extra power so that he could add an extra flare to his attacks. If he were to look over at where Roxas was fighting, Sora would have seen that some of that flare that was added made Roxas's attacks look very similar to attacks that he had to contend with when they fought near the end of his second journey. They were not the exact same attacks, but still, it was pretty close, and a part of Sora could not help but hope he would not be on the receiving end of those attacks again anytime soon.

You would think that with all of these impressive abilities and skills at their command, the boys would be able to fight off their surprise attackers, but unfortunately, the creatures seemed to keep coming in an endless number of waves. Once you factored in how their recent crash-landing had left some of them a little rattled or disoriented, and it came as no surprise that the four started to tire pretty quickly. They held their own for a good while though, you had to give them that, but in the end, they were still left struggling to at least stand with their Keyblades held in defensive positions, as if to try and scare off the creatures.

While scare tactics ended up proving futile against these beasts, something else worked a lot better, because a minute later, something seemed to blast several of the creatures away from the boys. Another bunch was soon blasted away soon after, followed by another, until finally, a path between the pack of monsters was formed, allowing a blonde haired woman in a fancy outfit, glasses, and a short cape that was black on the outside and purple on the inside to step through to them. When the monsters tried to rush her, she merely waved a riding crop in their direction, and the monsters were easily blasted back. A few more waves of said riding crop, and the monsters were all either chased away or crushed by some unseen force, leaving only her and the three boys that were not native to this world.

The blonde woman took a moment to stare the four down in silence, before she finally adjusted her glasses and said, "Unless you four wish to fight off anymore Grimm, I suggest you come with me right now."

It did not even seem necessary for the four to exchange a few looks between one another before they realized that her offer was their best and only option at the moment. Besides, the gummi ship could fix the remaining damage by itself, and they would always be able to find again easily enough with the tracking system on their Gummiphones, so why argue? Especially when the woman asking them to follow her did not seem like someone with a lot of patience right now. "Whatever you say, sweetheart," Lea smirked to the blonde.

That would have been the wrong thing to say in any circumstance, but somehow, none of the other three were surprised that Lea went and said it anyway. Even less surprising was the fact that their apparent rescuer just narrowed her eyes a little more at their tall friend and seemed to grip the riding crop a little more tightly, as if doing so would either restrain her from using it on him like she had these Grimm, as she called them. Either that or it was a sign that she was already starting to consider doing so, and none of the boys were too eager to find out which was more likely.

---

"I hope you all understand how much trouble you're in," the blonde woman informed the boys when they were all gathered in a small, dimly lit room a few hours later.

Sora could not help but roll his eyes a bit in response to this. The woman had been pacing around the room before them practically since they had arrived at their destination in the city. For some reason, she saw it fit to bring them to the nearest city's police station, and Sora could only figure that it was because their crash-landing had caused them to either trespass on private property or they had ended up hurting someone without meaning to. The latter seemed much less likely, since Sora had made certain that they would avoid any populated areas as best as he could when the ship crashed down, so he had to figure that it was the former. Still, he did his best to keep in any snarky remark he could have made, and he was really tempted to make more than a few.

Lea on the other hand showed no such restraint, and was quick to challenge her. "How much trouble we're in? What exactly did we even do other than fight for our very lives against a pack of hungry, vicious monsters?"

"And crash-landing in the middle of a forest," Roxas added on.

"Oh yeah. Can't forget about that," Lea nodded.

"Another thing you shouldn't forget about is that none of you even have a license to pilot any variety of aircraft, and that alone would be enough to land you in trouble, without the fact that you were in an area that was flagged as off-limits to normal civilians," the blonde cut in as she continued looking over something on the device she held in her hands.

"Hey, I've never needed a license to fly a ship before," Sora protested, no longer able to keep silent.

"Well it's a much different story in Vale and the other kingdoms than it is where you come from," the blonde easily shot back. "If it were up to me, you would all be sent home with much more than a slap on the wrist."

"Hate to break it to ya, lady, but we wouldn't be going home even if that was the case. We've got a job to do, and part of it involves finding a few people that are supposed to be around here somewhere," Lea informed her with a smug, challenging look.

"Then I'd say your search for at least one of those people is over, young man," a new voice chimed in, turning all attention to the door, just in time to see a man with silver hair in a black suit and green scarf stepping in, with a mug of coffee in one hand, and a silver and black cane in the other. "Now, which one of you is Sora Hikari?"

The four boys were all quiet upon hearing that question, at least until the wielder of Kingdom Key raised his hand in reply. "Uh…That would be me."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance at last, young man," the silver haired man nodded in return as he took a seat opposite from the boys. He paused in his sitting down all the way though, as he felt the need to lean in a little closer to examine Sora a bit better. "You…have a very interesting spark in your eyes," the man finally murmured after a second or two.

"Um…Thank you," Sora hesitantly replied, not sure if that was a compliment or not.

The man was about to speak again when Lea cut him off. "Wait, hold on a minute. Your last name is Hikari?"

"Yeah. What did you think it was," Sora asked in return.

"Uh…I don't really know. To be honest, I had started to think you didn't even have a last name at all a while back," Lea admitted.

"Seriously," Sora deadpanned. The taller boy merely shrugged in reply, prompting Sora to ask, "Well then what's your last name?"

Lea seemed to stiffen up a little when that question was asked, and ended up just muttering the answer under his breath, too low for anyone to hear. "What was that," Ventus asked.

"Fi-er-bran…" Lea coughed, the word still coming through unclearly.

"Excuse me," Sora questioned, while everyone else just looked at Lea weirdly.

Seeing that there was no way out of it, Lea sighed in defeat and said, "It's Firebrand, okay? My full name is Lea Firebrand."

"Your last name's Firebrand," Sora could not help chuckle, and it seemed that Ventus and Roxas were right there with him in the humor.

"Yeah, yeah. The guy who can control fire has a last name like Firebrand. The irony is not lost on me," Lea grumbled in response to the laughter.

"I don't know if that's irony, Lea. If anything, it just sounds so appropriate that it's making me think you came up with it yourself," Ventus joked.

That got Roxas to laugh a little harder, and his laughter made Lea turn a slightly cross look on him. "Laugh it up, Zombie-boy," Lea stated.

A slight cough from the most recent arrival brought everyone back to the matter at hand before Roxas could give any retort, and allowed the man in question to continue from where he left off. "As I was saying, I'm glad to see that the four of you arrived with minimal difficulties, save for the fact that your ship had crashed down. I do hope that it wasn't too badly damaged. After all, Yen Sid went to a lot of trouble to get it for you."

"You know Master Yen Sid," Ventus asked. "You're the friend that we were supposed to meet with?"

"Of course. We go quite a ways back, he and I," the man proudly proclaimed. When he saw the unsure looks that the boys adopted afterwards, he could not help but feel curious. "Is something the matter?"

"No, it's just that…Well…" Roxas attempted to find the nicest way to put it, but in the end, proved unsuccessful, so he just let Lea blurt it out.

"You look a lot younger than we thought you'd be," Lea stated. After getting an elbow from Ventus, he quickly added, "No offense."

"None taken, Mister Firebrand," the man happily replied. "Though I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"Nice to meet you, Professor," Sora nodded on behalf of the group, though it was clear he was still skeptical of Ozpin's claims. You could not blame him though, after all the times that he had been duped by Xehanort and his ilk, anyone would be a little hesitant to believe very much. "How exactly did you know we were coming, anyway?"

Ozpin smiled upon hearing that, showing that he probably anticipated that question, and produced a small hand mirror from his jacket. Looking at the object, Sora could not help but think back to a similar mirror he had once seen at the Beast's castle, but that did not stop him from wondering the same thing as the others. 'What's up with the mirror,' was the basic thought of everyone present, save for Ozpin.

"This mirror is an enchanted object that Yen Sid gifted to me many years ago when we first met. It was at that same time that he told me all about the other worlds, the wielders of the Keyblade, and so much more, and thanks to this very same mirror, he was able to inform me of the situation that brought you all here," Ozpin explained, likely having seen the question on everyone's faces.

"Wait, you mean, you know about all that? About us," Roxas asked in surprise.

His only reply was a simple nod, while Ozpin's smile continued to remain as it had been since he walked in. Ozpin's associate on the other hand did not stay nearly as quiet. "Professor Ozpin, what you're saying is insane. These children couldn't possibly be from another world, and besides that, travel to other worlds is impossible on Remnant," the blonde woman protested.

"Just because it's impossible for you, doesn't mean that others can't do it," Sora retorted before Ozpin could say anything to calm the woman down a little. Standing up from where he sat, Sora held out his hand and summoned forth the Keyblade, surprising the blonde a little. She had seen each of the various different versions of the weapon that these boys were using earlier, but she did not see where they had stowed them after the fight was over. Seeing it suddenly appear in Sora's hand like it had definitely served as quite the shock to her. "This is called the Keyblade. One of many different versions of it, actually, and my friends and I all use one of our own."

"Technically I use two, but the point still stands," Roxas interrupted before waving for Sora to continue.

"With its power, we can open or close any lock, cast powerful magic, and even reach other worlds by opening special gates. It's not something that just anyone can use though, because the Keyblade chooses those who are worthy to wield it, and even then, one must have had the power to wield a Keyblade passed onto them from a master, but it's not a burden that's easily bared by the wielder who is chosen," Sora finished from what he was saying before.

Having said his piece, the wielder of Kingdom Key dismissed his weapon and resumed his seat, leaving the blonde woman in a state of shock to the point of being utterly flabbergasted. In fact, she was so stunned that her previously passive look had fallen completely to be replaced by one of silent, wide-eyed disbelief. It started to make everyone else in the room think that Sora's explanation had caused her brain to shut down when she remained silent for several more moments, until she finally shook her head and found enough of her voice to start unloading a barrage of questions.

"How is it possible that you four could have such a weapon? Is it something to do with your Aura? Or maybe your Semblances? How do those weapons even work," the woman began to question, and from where the four boys were sitting it seemed like she was also trying to hold on to some sense of what was normal for her as she attempted to explain away what she just saw and heard.

"Now, now, Glynda. Try not to overwhelm the boys," Ozpin advised in an attempt to calm her down. He looked back to the four and explained, "I feel I should apologize for her. This is the first time that Professor Goodwitch been exposed to even a little bit of the extraordinary world of Keyblades and their wielders."

"No worries. Trust us; we deal with that a lot more than you'd probably think. Got it memorized," Lea reassured, capping it off with his catchphrase and the gesture that always went with it.

While it seemed that Ozpin found that remark a little amusing, Sora had to ask about something that Glynda had brought up in her questions. "What's Aura, anyway? Or Semblances for that matter?"

"Aura is a mystical power that all people on Remnant possess, which can help to heal wounds and protect them from major harm. Semblances are mystical abilities that are unique to a person who has had their Aura unlocked to that extent, and while some are similar to one another, two semblances can still be as different from each other as two people are," Ozpin explained, sounding very much like the teacher he claimed to be. "Not everyone can use their Aura to this extent though, as one must have it unlocked in order to perform all of these feats, and the only way to do that, is for someone who's already had their Aura activated perform a special type of ritual for them. The one common thing you'll find among most people who have had their Auras activated is that they are typically the defenders of our world. We call them huntsmen and huntresses."

"Cool," Ventus and Roxas both breathed in awe upon hearing that.

"Got that memorized," Lea noted to himself, already making a few plans to see if he could get his Aura unlocked.

"Now then, aside from that brief lesson about our world, just what is it you four boys would like to do here on Remnant," Ozpin asked. When the group gave him questioning looks, he easily answered, "Yen Sid did explain to me what he wanted you to do while you are here, but I want to hear what it is that you want from your time on our world."

Lea, Roxas, and Ventus all stayed silent after hearing that question. Admittedly, the only reason that they were here was because they wanted to help Sora and maybe even get stronger as Keyblade wielders. Anything more than that was something that was up to the boy in question, so it was no surprise that they all turned to him to see how he would answer. Not that Sora had a problem with doing so. "We're here to find a lost friend of ours. Someone very important, not just to us, but to all of our other friends and all the worlds as well. Beyond that, we…I want to get stronger."

Hearing that last bit easily told Ozpin that Sora was speaking on his own behalf more than the others at the end, but from what he could see, they did feel the same way. Still, he had to be sure of a few other things regarding Sora himself. "You want to be a better Keyblade wielder?"

"As a starting point," Sora confirmed, his expression maintaining its serious appearance. It never changed as he continued on, but they could all feel a very clear heaviness in his voice as he spoke, and it only seemed to grow a little more at certain points. "I know that we've all grown quite a bit since we first became Keyblade wielders, and that I've gotten stronger since it happened, but despite all the power and skill I had, I couldn't…I couldn't save her. I don't want to be too weak to help my friends again, to watch as they get hurt right in front of me. I know it's impossible to stop it from happening at all, but if there's any chance that I can save them by getting better, or stronger, or more capable, then I need to take it so I can keep them all safe."

Everyone was silent upon hearing this short speech. Even Goodwitch seemed a little moved by Sora's words, having since regained her usual demeanor, but it was Ozpin's reaction that the Keybearers were more focused on. "Well Sora, if that's really what you wish for, then I have a question for you. Do you want to come to my school?"

Naturally, Sora and his friends were a little confused by that, and it was even less of a surprise that Sora would reply with a question of his own. "How would going to a school help us find Kairi or get stronger in anyway?"

"Beacon Academy is not just any school, Sora. It is a school to train future generations of Huntsmen and Huntresses. I have a feeling that is another reason why Yen Sid sent you all here; because he believes that you all would benefit a great deal from attending such a school, whether it be for the full four years of study, or otherwise. Not surprising really, considering that some of the greatest and bravest of Huntsmen have graduated from Beacon, including one particular group known as Team STRQ, I'm proud to say. So, what do you say?"

For the second time that day, the four did not even need to exchange the glances they did to know that they were all thinking the same thing. "Yeah, we'd like to give it a shot," Sora replied with a ghost of a smile that was very similar to his usual one.

Ozpin smiled in return, happy to hear that response, and said, "Okay then. We'll just need to set up a few records for the four of you so that we won't be disrupting the world order too greatly. I've already done most of that, but there is still the matter of filling out a specific part of the entrance forms for two of you: the last names of your friends Roxas and Ventus."

Sora and Lea both froze up a little when they heard that, partly because neither of them even knew if Ventus had a last name, but mainly because of how that pertained to Roxas. Since he was technically a Nobody when he first came to be, Roxas did not even have a last name, as far as anyone knew. Last Sora checked, none of the Nobodies who had joined the original Organization XIII had last names beyond their titles, but none of them were sure if they should mention any of that to Ozpin, even if he was an old friend of Yen Sid's. So, that left them with two options: on one hand, they could give Roxas either Ven or Sora's last name and say that he was related to one of them. That did seem reasonably realistic, more so in the case of Ventus than Sora, but at the same time, Roxas had always been very insistent on the fact that he was his own person, completely separate from Sora or Ventus, so they did not think the former Key of Destiny would go for that. So, that left them with the second option, which ended up being the one that Roxas chose on his own before any of them could say anything.

"My last name is Sheru. Roxas Sheru," the former Number XIII of the original Organization answered.

Seeing that Roxas had now taken any decision about how to address the matter of his last name out of their hands, Ventus mentally shrugged before giving his last name to the headmaster of Beacon. "Mine's Kunsanagi."

"Roxas Sheru and Ventus Kunsanagi," Ozpin repeated as he typed the information down on his own tablet device with a nod. He then looked to the boys and said, "Glynda will show you to a hotel that you four can stay at until the airships transporting new students to Beacon depart in two week's time. I'd suggest that you use that time to study up on the world of Remnant if I were you, or at the very least, on everything that would be considered as basic information."

Glynda nodded to show that she understood Ozpin's orders before retrieving her own tablet device again and saying, "I'll send a copy of such information to each of your Scrolls along with a list of various books and information sites that you can look up to study anything more. It would be in your best interest to do as Professor Ozpin says, given that such basic information is not likely to be covered too heavily in class while you're attending Beacon." She paused in her typing when she noticed that Ventus had his hand raised like a student wanting to ask a question. "Yes Mister Kunsanagi?"

"Um…What's a Scroll? Because I'm pretty sure that the kind you're thinking about is not the same as what any of us are used to thinking about," the blonde asked.

While Goodwitch just blinked in disbelief of the boy's question, Ozpin set his cane aside so he could lightly smack himself in the forehead before saying, "I knew I had forgotten about something." He then reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out for small, white devices similar to the ones that he and Glynda used, before passing them out to the boys before him. The only difference between said devices was the color of the diamond in the center of them. Sora's being silver, Roxas's blue, Ven's green, and Lea's red. "You'll need these for your time here on Remnant. These Scrolls serve many purposes, so I'd suggest you learn how to use them as quickly as possible, given that everyone else will know such information as well."

"Right," Sora nodded as he accepted his Scroll. "Uh, can one of you help me with that? I can't really do…technology that well."

Ozpin merely let out a chuckle while Glynda muttered something under her breath that sounded like one of her usual complaints about teenagers as she moved to explain all the various functions of the handheld device to its new owner. Seeing that his deputy headmistress had things well in hand here, Ozpin decided to take his leave, wishing a fond farewell to the boys as he did, and thinking that Yen Sid may have been right to be worried about Sora when they spoke earlier. All the same, he had a feeling that there may still be something waiting here that could help bring back the Keyblade hero that his old friend had spoken so highly of in the past. It was now just a matter of finding it.

---

About two weeks later, the boys were all caught up on all the matters that were considered common knowledge on Remnant, at least to the point where they would not stick out to any grand extreme, and after using the remaining free time they had to explore the city of Vale a little, they found themselves aboard an airship to Beacon. They kept to themselves for most of the flight, even as other new students came aboard and began mingling, but they could all definitely feel the buzz of excitement that permeated the air around them. Ventus and Roxas even noticed that a few people were greeting others like they were old friends, and figured that those folks knew each other from another school or were old classmates reuniting after whatever counted as summer break here. Lea on the other hand was keeping an eye out for anyone that seemed especially noteworthy, while simultaneously listening to the news report that was playing as the ship flew to its destination. When he saw the mug shot of a wanted criminal named Roman Torchwick, he immediately filed it away for later, thinking that it would be someone that he and the others would meet some time in the near future. After all, Sora had a tendency to run into bad guys on every world he visited, and since the same could be said for both Roxas and Ventus, Lea was all the more certain that they would meet the guy soon.

The only thing that really caught Lea's attention more than the report on the well-dressed thug was the follow-up story about a Faunus civil rights protest gone wrong because of the White Fang. When he first heard of the Faunus, Lea could not help but make a few comparisons to Nobodies, namely in the sense that they were named outcasts because of circumstances beyond their control. Sure, it was not entirely the same thing, but considering that Organization XIII eventually came to stand as a voice for all Nobodies in a manner similar to how the White Fang seemed to have for Faunus, you could not blame Lea for seeing a few parallels. Though if he were being honest, based on what he read about the White Fang, Lea was not sure if he preferred them over the Organization just yet, be it when the Faunus rights group first appeared or as it was now. Glancing over and seeing Roxas giving that particular report the same amount of attention as he was easily reminded Lea that his best friend had the same thought when they first heard about the group.

The news report was soon interrupted though in order for a special greeting message by Glynda Goodwitch to be played for the new students. After meeting the deputy headmistress themselves, the Keybearers could not help but feel a little put-off by how much friendlier she seemed to be in this message than she had been in person. Then again, it probably was not a good idea for any of the teachers to be portrayed in a poor light before the students had even arrived at the school, so the boys did their best to ignore their discomfort and pay attention to the welcome message. When it ended, they saw a lot of students rushing to take in the view of the city below as they flew over it to their destination, and when Sora went to have a look for himself, the other three could not help but smile when he lit up with excitement. Seeing that served as reassurance that the old Sora was still in there somewhere, because they had not seen him act like that since before the events of the Second Keyblade War. All the more reason to believe that coming here was definitely going to be a big help to their friend.

The nice moment quickly came to an end though when they spotted a blonde boy in a hoodie and armor suddenly become unable to hold in his lunch before he started scrambling to find someplace where he could throw up without making a mess. "Yeesh. Glad I'm not that guy," Lea muttered to his friends.

"Although it makes you wonder why he even came down to have a look outside if he knew he was probably going to get sick," Ventus said.

"Think we should check on him to make sure he's okay," Sora asked, showing a little more of his true nature when he did.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Roxas reassured his friend.

The former Nobody suddenly became a little less sure when the four suddenly heard a young girl cry out, "Oh, Yang, gross! You have puke on your shoe!"

"Gross, gross, gross…" a blonde girl repeatedly complained as she rushed to try and get the puke off of said shoe, while another girl in a red hood and cape did her best to stay ahead of the blonde.

"Get away, get away," the girl with the cape panicked, her voice confirming that she was the one they heard earlier. "Oh, get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!"

The four just watched the girls in wonder as they continued running for a minute, until they both disappeared. Even after they were gone, it was a little while before any of the boys said anything about what they just saw. "Well…that happened," Roxas stated at last, being the first to rediscover his ability to speak.

"Who do you think those two were," Sora questioned, having been unable to get a good look at the two before they were gone.

"Don't know, but we'll probably find out later on if they're gonna be new students like us," Ventus reasoned.

"I hope so. That blonde chick seemed pretty interesting," Lea commented with a small grin that made the other three stare at him questionably.

"Dude," Ventus finally snapped, getting the redhead's attention. "I'm pretty sure she's a couple decades younger than you, you know."

"Okay, one, how old do I look to you guys? I'm technically not that much older than you, Ventus," Lea admitted. "And two, what are you guys thinking? I'm just saying that she looked like someone I'd like getting to know."

"Yeah, we'd buy that if we didn't know you had a thing for blondes," Roxas stated. When Lea gave him a questioning look of his own, Roxas did not even try to hesitate on elaborating his meaning. "Don't think I didn't notice all those times when you and Larxene…"

"Okay, whoa! Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Stop right there," Lea interrupted in a near-panicked tone of voice. "I'm telling you right now that any ideas you have about me and Larxene, you need to drop faster than a bad date! I was never interested in her like that. If anything, I wanted to keep as much distance between me and her as possible. Seriously, I wouldn't wish that crazy little bitch on my worst enemy."

"All right, all right. Chill out, man," Roxas placated. The four then went silent for a few more minutes before he finally asked, "So are you really like twenty-some years old?"

"Hey, technically, I was made into a Nobody when I was still a teenager, and I don't know if you've noticed, but most Nobodies don't really age that much physically, with a few exceptions here and there. I just happen to be really tall for my age," Lea retorted in a huff.

Not much more was said on the matter after that, and the boys just enjoyed the rest of the flight in silence. By that point though, there was really not that much of a flight left, as their ship soon came to rest at the port, and the doors opened to allow the new students to disembark and begin making their way towards their new school/home. The boys had quickly spotted the sick blonde from earlier spewing his guts out into a trash can, and while they were sympathetic to him, they were also a little too grossed out to go over and see if he was okay, so they just kept on walking forwards. Doing so actually served a much greater purpose for them, because it allowed the four to finally get their first real look at Beacon Academy, and they were definitely impressed.

From where they stood, the school looked like a massive, modern day castle with all the towers that the building seemed to be made up of. The grounds were made up of various trees and freshly cut grass, while a statue that they could not get a good look at from their current position sat in the center of the courtyard, just before the main entrance of the school. Various lampposts lined the walkway, some of which had banners hanging from them. Add in the small moat that circled around part of the courtyard, and the Keybearers would be hard pressed to not think that this had once been the home to some royal or noble family before it was a school.

"I've seen a lot of cool places, but this has definitely got to be high up there on the list of the coolest," Sora admitted, and that was saying something, coming from him. After all, he had seen Queen Elsa create her ice palace in person when he visited Arendelle, along with a number of other impressive places and castles. Somehow, he managed to shake himself out of his near child-like awe, and began addressing his friends. "Okay guys, Ozpin said that all the new students would be gathering together in the auditorium for an opening ceremony of some kind, so now that we're here, we'd better get over there right away." When he did not receive any kind of reply from the others, he turned around and saw that his group had all vanished. "Guys?" Sora called out in confusion while looking around, only seeing a bunch of kids rushing towards the school in various states of hurry as he did. In the end, he just let out a sigh and muttered, "And they ditched me. Really guys? Donald and Goofy never did this…Well, they kinda did once, but that was ages ago and completely different from this."

Sora's discussion with himself stopped short when a loud explosion suddenly went off somewhere close by, and he quickly spun around to see what the source could have been. Much to his surprise, it looked like it came from one of two girls, one with white hair and dressed in an equally white outfit, and the other being the girl with the red hood from the ship. While he was not entirely sure how the two could have made such an explosion happen, what he could see was that the girl in white was really upset about something, and from what he could tell, Little Red looked really apologetic, despite not being too thrilled to be on the receiving end of the other girl's wrath. Already Sora had a bad feeling about this situation unfolding before him, and he did not hesitate to rush over just in case he would need to help out. He did not realize just how justified that bad feeling was though until he got close enough to hear the two girls' conversation, if you could really call it that.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about," the girl in white shouted, chewing out Little Red and unknowingly drawing a scowl on Sora's face with every word she said.

"I'm really, really sorry," Little Red apologized almost frantically, but it did not seem like she was being listened to.

"Ugh! You complete, dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon," the snotty girl questioned. Not that she was willing to wait for an answer before going off on her target again. "This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters, so watch where you're going!"

"Then I guess I'd better get started with the monster that's right in front of me," Sora interrupted, having heard more than enough already to decide he should step in.

The two girls both turned to the Keyblade wielder upon hearing him, and while Little Red looked more surprised by his remark, Sora's snotty target was the one the Keyblade wielder was more focused on. "Excuse me?! Look, I don't know who you are, but this is none of your concern, so just go bother someone else."

"If you're going to be bullying someone around, then this is definitely my business," Sora easily shot back. "Look, I don't know what happened to make you mad at her, but she already said she was sorry, so back off, Princess."

"It's Heiress, actually," a new voice corrected, and all three immediately turned to see a girl with black hair and dressed in an attire that had a lot of the same color to match, including the bow she wore on top of her head. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Schnee Dust Company," Sora repeated in question. "As in the biggest producer of Dust and energy propellant in the world?"

"Correct. Finally, some recognition," Weiss confirmed with a prideful smirk. "Maybe now you would like to apologize for your insults?"

That got Sora to frown again, and he easily replied, "I wouldn't bet on that, considering what else your company is also known for, like having shady business partners and bad working practices for a lot of its workers, especially in the case of Faunus."

"What-? How dare-! The nerve of…" Weiss sputtered, but it did not seem like she could find any kind of retort for Sora's comment.

"He's not wrong," the black haired girl smirked in approval, clearly finding humor in the heiress having her moment of glory turned on its head in the way that it had. Apparently, Little Red was enjoying it too, since she was giggling a little at her bully being outsmarted like this.

In the end, Weiss just huffed angrily, snatched a bottle from the black haired girl, and stalked off in a huff like any other spoiled brat. While Sora just rolled his eyes at Weiss, the black haired girl merely glared at the snowflake-like symbol on the back of Weiss's jacket, while the other girl quickly waved after Weiss as she called out, "I promise I'll make this up to you!"

'Seriously,' Sora mentally questioned as he stared at the girl. Even he was not that quick to forgive someone that was bullying him in any way. Sure he had more than a few friends that were once his enemies, but he did not try to mend bridges with all of them just like that. This girl was definitely something else.

He quickly came back to reality when he heard something plop down on the ground, and looked to see that Little Red had dropped down onto her back, apparently feeling a little dejected after all that had just happened, and from the look of things, the black haired girl had not stuck around either. So, being the nice guy that he was, Sora decided that he may as well help out the interesting girl he had stepped up to a bully for, and quickly approached her just as she had sadly muttered, "Welcome to Beacon."

"I wouldn't worry about it, too much," Sora reassured as he held his hand out to her. "They do say that the first day is always the hardest, right?" The girl did not really respond at first, but instead just stared at him in question. Sora figured that she probably thought he was trying to trick her or something, so he put on the best smile he could manage and said, "Anyways, my name's Sora; Sora Hikari. What's yours?"

"…Ruby," Little Red nervously replied, finally granting Sora a name to go with her face as she accepted his hand up. When she was on her feet again, Sora finally got the chance to get a good look at her, and he was left pretty stunned by what he saw.

Ruby was only a little shorter than him, with somewhat pale, yet fair skin and neck-length, choppy hair that was mostly black but gradates to dark red at its tips, and wore a black long-sleeved dress with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, and red trim around her skirt. The rest of her outfit consisted of black stockings and black combat boots with red laces and trims around the top and soles, a black belt that was slung around her hips on an angle with a silver rose-shaped brooch pinned close to the middle along with a pouch, and the red cloak and hood that he had glimpsed up until now. Of course, the thing that really grabbed Sora's attention was actually Ruby's eyes. They were a beautiful, shinning silver color unlike anything Sora had seen before, and it was honestly a bit of struggle for the boy to not stare at those shimmering pools for too long.

Thankfully he managed to snap out of it when Ruby asked, "Wait, aren't you one of those guys from the airship that all had similar hairstyles?"

"Huh," Sora asked, partly because he was just coming back down to Earth, and also because he did not entirely understand the question. "What guys?"

"You know, those other guys who had spiky hair like yours. I thought I saw you hanging out with them. The two blonde boys who looked like they were twins and the really tall redhead," Ruby elaborated.

"Oh, yeah, I guess so," Sora sheepishly confirmed, hoping that Ruby had not noticed how he was staring at her just now. "I didn't know we had attracted that much attention."

"Well, I don't really know how much attention, but it was a little hard for me and my sister to miss the Spiky Gang," Ruby teased, earning a small laugh from Sora as he joined her in just walking around the campus.

"'Spiky Gang,' huh? Well, I guess if the shoe fits," Sora grinned once his chuckles had died down. "So what happened to get that Schnee girl so mad at you, anyway?"

"You mean you didn't see," Ruby asked.

"Not really. I just heard some big explosion and then turned to see her yelling at you," Sora admitted.

"It was my fault, really. I accidentally tripped over her luggage, and then she yelled at me while shaking around a vial of Dust, and then I sneezed, and next thing you know, I'm literally exploding a hole in front of the school," Ruby explained.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sora requested as he raised both hands up in a request for her to pause for a minute. "Are you saying that you made a big explosion by sneezing?" When Ruby just looked away in red-faced embarrassment, and starting to look a little cuter now, Sora knew he had his answer, and he immediately grinned, "That's actually pretty cool."

"Seriously," Ruby asked, thinking she had heard wrong.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true," Sora confirmed.

That got Ruby to smile a little more, and her embarrassed blush to disappear, but at that point, their conversation seemed to have come to a sudden halt, and Ruby was not really too eager to end it just yet. Of course, she was not really sure how to keep the conversation going, being pretty socially awkward by her own admission, but all the same, that did not mean she did not have something to contribute to a conversation. "So…I've got this thing," she finally said as she reached into a compartment on the back of her belt.

Sora was about to ask what she was referring to, when he suddenly had to back up in order to avoid getting hit by a massive, red mechanical weapon that Ruby just drew and unfolded before him. "Whoa," Sora gasped in awe, having never seen a weapon like that before. "Is that some kind of scythe?"

"It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle," Ruby informed him with pride. Unfortunately, Sora was not one who could easily understand descriptions like that, so when he cocked his head in confusion, Ruby knew she had to dumb it down a little for him. Not that she had a problem with it, as evidenced by how she hefted her scythe up so she was holding it in both hands, and then cocked the sniper portion of it as she specified, "It's also a gun."

"Oh, cool," Sora praised with a grin. "I've never seen something like that before."

That seemed to brighten Ruby's spirits a little more, and it showed when she excitedly asked, "So what've you got?"

"Huh? What've I got," Sora asked.

"Yeah, what's your weapon?"

"Oh, well…" Sora was a little hesitant to answer that question, but at the same time, he did not want to let Ruby feel like he was being a jerk for not sharing after she told him about her weapon. Besides, it was not like this was the first time he had shown off his weapon to someone without giving too much away, so in the end, he really had no problem holding his hand out and summoning forth Kingdom Key like he always did as he said, "I've got this."

"Oooooooh," Ruby gasped in awe. "How'd you do that? Is it part of your Semblance?"

"No, it's actually part of my weapon's special nature," Sora explained. He and the others had all gone over and rehearsed the story that they would give to people about their Keyblades and abilities while they were on Remnant, and it seemed like he was about to really put it to the test here with Ruby. "You see, my sword, which is called the Keyblade, possess the power to be summoned to me at any time that I want or need it. My friends each have one of their own, too. Well, except for Roxas. He actually has two."

"How did you get it to be like that," Ruby asked.

"I didn't. The Keyblade is like that naturally. Legend says that the person who made all the first Keyblades placed a special kind of enchantment on them so that they would bond with whoever came to wield them," Sora continued explaining. "No one's really quite sure if it's true or not, but the one thing that everyone does know is that the few people who do know how to forge a Keyblade use a special kind of technique that lets it come to its wielder in the way that the first ones all could. Well that, and the fact that the Keyblade is very picky about its wielder, so even if someone did try to get rid of it, it would just come right back to them. I can still put it away in the same way that I summoned it out, but any other method of getting rid of it wouldn't work."

"That's amazing," Ruby whispered. "So what does it do?"

"Well…a lot of different things, actually, but the coolest feature, in my opinion, is that I can attach different Keychains to the end of it so that I can change its appearance while giving it extra powers, and allowing it to change into various other weapons as well. Of course, what it changes into depends on what Keychain I'm using at the time, and the one I'm currently using doesn't really turn it into anything," Sora said.

"So you can basically make it turn into any weapon you want if you have the right Keychain," Ruby asked.

"More or less. It's usually only able to change into two different weapons at most aside from its default sword form with each Keychain," Sora clarified for her.

Ruby nodded along, seeming to have bought the story Sora and his friends more or less made up about their Keyblades, and definitely intrigued by everything that Sora just told her, all the while, grinning a little more at the idea of having so many weapons in just one. When Sora finished talking, Ruby seemed to hesitate for a moment before she finally asked, "Do you…mind if I hold it for a little bit?"

Sora happily nodded in reply. After all, this was not the first time he let someone else try out his Keyblade, but then again, the last time he did was as part of a trick he had played on Captain Jack Sparrow. He could clearly tell that it was different in Ruby's case. She was not asking if she could keep the Keyblade, just if she could have a better look at it, so he had no problem handing Kingdom Key to her so she could do so. When the Kingdom Key's handle rested in her hand, Ruby could swear that she felt a special kind of warmth emanating from it, almost making her think she was holding a little heart in a strange way. After a second though, she took a few practice swings so that she could get a better feel for the blade, and was pleasantly surprised by what she discovered as she did.

"Wow, it's really well balanced," Ruby began noting, almost as if she were making an in-depth study of the legendary blade. "I figured that the teeth on the tip would make it a little heavier on that one side, but it seems like it's just as easy to swing as a basic sword. Probably has some capability of using Dust crystals, but I can't quite figure out where they would be loaded in. Seems to have good striking ability too. I figured that the Keychain might get in the way, but it doesn't seem to hinder the sword at all. Maybe it's just a matter of the person using it." Before Ruby could make any more notes, Kingdom Key suddenly vanished from her hand before popping right back into its proper wielder's. "Hey! I wasn't done just yet!"

"Sorry, but like I said, the Keyblade's really picky about its wielder," Sora reminded her with a friendly grin. "Although I have to admit, I'm surprised you picked up on all of that stuff so quickly. I've never really thought about all that very much before, myself."

Ruby let out a sheepish chuckle upon hearing that, and replied, "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, but you probably figured that out already from seeing how I probably went a little overboard when designing Crescent Rose."

"Crescent Rose," Sora asked, confused by the name Ruby just dropped.

"That's the name of my scythe," Ruby clarified.

"Oh, gotcha," Sora nodded, only to stop short when the rest of what Ruby said registered in his mind. "Wait, are you saying you made that yourself?"

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons," Ruby proudly told him. "Didn't you make yours?"

"Uh…No, actually. Very few people know how to forge a Keyblade, and even then, the Keyblade itself actually chooses who its wielder is," Sora admitted. "No one really knows how or why that is. To be honest, Kingdom Key was originally meant to be wielded by my best friend, but certain…events made it choose me instead."

Ruby was curious about how a weapon could choose its wielder like Sora was implying, and about what those events were, but from what she could tell by the look on Sora's face, it was not a story he was too willing to share right now, so she figured it was better to leave it alone. She was not going to pry into something that looked too personal, especially if there was a chance that it would cost her the first friend she had made at Beacon. "Well, I like it, and I think it really suits you really well. And I can't wait to see you use it in a real battle."

"Thanks, and trust me, it'll be something that you won't forget any time soon when you do see it," Sora promised.

"So why'd you help me out back there, in the courtyard," Ruby then asked, having been wondering about that for a while now.

"I just wanted to lend a hand. I don't like bullies in general, no matter who they are or where they're from. Plus, I wasn't just gonna sit back and let that girl push you around," Sora shrugged with his old carefree attitude shinning out more than it had in months.

"But you didn't even know me," Ruby pointed out.

"Maybe not, but I'm usually a really good judge of character. I could tell you weren't a bad person, and that you'd be a really good friend to have," Sora easily replied.

"Wait, you really think of me as a friend already? Just like that?"

"Sure. Despite what some people may say, it can actually be that easy if you let it," Sora grinned in return, his hands resting behind his head.

That got Ruby to smile a little more, and Sora could swear that she just got a lot cuter when she did. It almost reminded him of the way Kairi would smile when she was especially happy, but he quickly shook that thought away from his mind. He could not let himself forget that Kairi was the reason he was here, and he should not let a girl he just met distract him from his mission, no matter how cute she was. Still, he could not shake that odd feeling inside him that seemed to persist in making itself known to him the longer he was around Ruby.

Just before Sora could stew in those thoughts for a little longer, Ruby suddenly asked, "Hey, where are we going?"

"Uh…I thought you knew," Sora admitted. The two just stared at each other in silence after that, before they ultimately burst out laughing at how lacking their sense of direction seemed to be right then. "Neither one of us are all that good at finding places without a map of some kind, are we?"

"Nope, seems like we're not," Ruby giggled, and with that, the two friends started looking for any clues as to what direction they needed to go in order to meet up with the rest of the new students.

---

In the end, Sora and Ruby had an easier time figuring out how to find a way to the auditorium than they originally thought they would. All they had to do was follow the crowd, which they only just recently had noticed had been heading in the opposite direction of them, and from there, it was just a matter of heading inside before the big, opening ceremony started. Of course, they also had to find a good spot for said ceremony, but that did not seem to be too big of an issue, as they quickly spotted some familiar faces who were each waving them over, indicating a spot that had been saved for them.

"Oh, hey I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony," Ruby told Sora.

"Sure thing. Catch you later, Ruby," Sora called after the girl as she moved to join the blonde that he saw her with back on the airship. He then turned to join up with his three friends, ready to chew each of them out for leaving him behind earlier. "Hey you guys, what gives," Sora demanded once he reached Ven, Lea, and Roxas. "Why'd you ditch me back there?"

The three just exchanged confused looks between one another before they ultimately just shrugged at Sora, looking like they had no idea what he was talking about. Sora was about to go off on them when he heard Ruby's voice calling out to him. He then turned around to see her happily waving to him, and he could not help but smile as he waved back. None of the others failed to notice this, and while Roxas and Ventus just looked interested by this new development, Lea's grin was much more mischievous in comparison. Not that it stopped Sora from getting back on track after he turned to face them again.

"Earlier at the courtyard," Sora asked in reminder. Again, the other three boys just shrugged, and that got Sora's temper to flare a little more again. "When we got off the airship," Sora enunciated. At that point, the others could not keep up the act any longer, and they all just burst out laughing, proving what Sora already suspected: they had pranked him. "Oh, you bunch of little…" Sora growled. "You all are so lucky Aqua's not here right now, because she would be more than ready to let you all have it for that."

Hearing his best friend's name being mentioned not only served to stop Ventus's laughter cold, but it also made him go really pale in the face as well. "Uh, guys…Did any of you tell Aqua we were coming to this world," the blonde nervously whispered.

That got Lea and Roxas to stop laughing, while Sora's glare dropped into a look of worry. "I thought you told her," Lea admitted to Ventus.

When Ventus slowly shook his head in response, Sora, Roxas, and Lea all turned just as pale as him as they realized the error that they had made, but only Roxas was willing to say anything about it. "So…on a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, how mad do you think she's gonna be when she finds out we didn't tell her before we left?"

---

World: Castle of Dreams

At that very moment, Aqua and Terra were strolling through the streets of the town on Cinderella's world on a date, simply enjoying each other's company and the stars of the night sky that were currently shining brightly above them. They had traded out their usual warrior's attire for much more casual clothes, save for their armor pieces, just for the occasion, with Aqua wearing a cyan t-shirt and blue jeans, and Terra sporting a dark grey shirt, brown coat, and dark brown cargo pants. They were both enjoying the peaceful moment that they had been allowed after all that had happened, and for that moment, it seemed like all their worries did not exist.

That illusion was soon shattered when Terra noticed that Aqua had a certain look on her face. It was one he knew all too well, because it was the same look he knew that his girlfriend would always get when she was thinking about one of their closest friends; more specifically, a friend that she was very worried about. He had a feeling he knew which friend she had on her mind, but all the same, he still felt like he had to ask, "Aqua? What's the matter?"

Aqua let out a small sigh before she asked, "How do you think Sora's been doing lately? I mean, I know none of us have really heard too much from him lately, but it's been a couple of months now, and I'm really worried about what he may end up doing."

"Wait, you mean…you don't know," Terra asked in surprise.

"Know what," Aqua asked, her worried look changing to one of confused intrigue.

"Master Yen Sid recently found a lead on what happened to Kairi, and he sent Sora, Ven, Roxas, and Lea to look into it. Said that the world they would be going to would also help them get in some special training. I thought someone had told you," Terra revealed. He then felt Aqua stiffen a little under the arm he currently had wrapped around her shoulders, and he looked over to see that her right eye was twitching a little, indicating that she was likely getting upset. "Aqua? Sweetie? Are you…"

"Terra…do you know which world they went to," Aqua calmly questioned.

That made Terra even more worried than he already was, to the point where he was surprised that he managed to answer the question. "Uh…no, honey. I only just found out the other day after I talked to Riku on the Gummiphone."

"I see," Aqua hummed in thought, still as calm as before, and in a tone that was far too sweet and even to be normal. Terra's hunch was proven true when Aqua then promised, "When I find those four…not even Kingdom Hearts itself will be able to save them."

The only thing that scared Terra more at that moment was the fact that Aqua's voice had not wavered from its calm tone in the slightest, and from his own past experiences, he knew that meant she was likely saving up her anger for the target of said fury. Not another word was said on the matter for the rest of their date, and while some would think that meant Aqua had forgotten about it entirely, Terra knew better, having known his girlfriend for as long as he had, and said more than a few prayers for Sora and the others in the hopes that Aqua would be merciful.

---

World: Remnant

"Yeah, we're dead," Ventus moaned miserably.

"Yep," Sora agreed plainly.

"Any chance we can do something to guarantee our continued existence," Lea asked, hoping that there was a good answer.

"Pray," Ventus and Sora simultaneously answered. They both knew that was the only thing that could be done at this point having known Aqua for as long as they each had.

Before they could further bemoan their sorrows regarding their impending doom at the hands of a royally ticked off Aqua, Sora heard a familiar, arrogant voice from nearby saying, "Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, spiky, and scrawny over there!"

All four boys turned to the speaker, having all picked up on that last bit to see that Weiss had once again crossed paths with Ruby, and much to Sora's irritation, it did not seem like she was being any friendlier with the young scythe wielder than she was the last time. Of course, the rest of his friends were a little more confused about something else. "Which one of us do you think she's talking about," Lea questioned.

"I don't know," Ventus shrugged, with Roxas doing the same while letting out a grunt that sounded like a similar response to Ven's.

"Oh wow, really," Ruby excitedly asked, apparently having completely missed the sarcasm.

"…No," Weiss answered shortly before turning away in a huff while Ruby was left to hang her head sadly.

Seeing that Sora was tempted to march over and give Weiss another piece of his mind, and he probably would have too, had the sound of someone coughing into a microphone not suddenly echoed over the speakers in the room, drawing everyone's attention to the stage where Ozpin stood before a microphone, with Goodwitch off to the side. "I'll…keep this brief," Ozpin informed everyone. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." Ozpin then paused for a moment as his eyes wandered over the crowd for a minute, and Sora could have sworn that the headmaster was speaking directly to them, or even a certain few other individuals when he finally finished. "It is up to you to take the first step."

With his piece said, Ozpin stepped aside and allowed Glynda to take the floor. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

After that, the students all began to disperse, some going to the ballroom that Goodwitch had just mentioned, others just mingling amongst other students, and the remainder contemplating Ozpin's speech just now. The four Keyblade wielders were actually among that last group. "Well, I'm certainly pumped," Lea sarcastically cheered.

"No kidding. I think even Lexaeus gave better motivational speeches than that," Roxas agreed.

"Wait, do you mean Lexaeus as in when he actually was Lexaeus, or as in now that he's back to normal as Aeleus," Lea questioned.

"The former," Roxas replied.

"He definitely seemed a little off," Ventus admitted, referring to Ozpin. "It was almost like he wasn't even there."

"Doesn't matter. Let's just get to the ballroom for now. After all, we're not here to critique the way someone gives a speech," Sora practically ordered as he started marching out.

Just from those brief sentences, the other three knew that Sora was about to fall into a bad mood, and the last thing they wanted was to see Sora getting upset again, especially after they saw a little bit of the old Sora come out not too long ago. Thinking quickly, Lea jumped right onto the topic that they all intended to bring up with him, but considering the way he was grinning, the blonde duo of their group could not help but wonder if it was wise to let him do it. "So Sora, who was that girl just now," Lea asked.

"Which girl," Sora questioned, considering that they just saw three not too long ago.

"The one that you came in with and were just waving to before the ceremony started."

"You mean Ruby? She's just a friend I made after you guys ditched me. I saw her getting yelled at by Weiss, the girl in white, and figured I should help her out, since it seemed like she needed it," Sora explained, clearly not getting what Lea was aiming for.

"Geez, it's like every world you go to," Lea chuckled, furthering Sora's confusion. "You've always gotta be the knight in shining armor, huh? I mean, I get that it's probably a ton of fun and stuff, but come on! Leave a few for the rest of us, bud."

"Hey, it's not like I go looking for people in trouble, and besides, I don't help them because I want some kind of reward or anything. I just like helping people out, especially since it almost always results in getting some new friends," Sora defended.

"Right, among which happen to be some really cute girls," Lea teased, not noticing how Roxas and Ventus were motioning for him to stop. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were looking for a new girl…"

"GREAT friend! A new great friend, that I'm sure we will all enjoy getting to know," Roxas hurriedly finished while slapping his hand over Lea's mouth and pulling him down into a headlock before he could finish. Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and Sora was now scowling more than ever as he stomped out of the room in a huff.

"If you need me, I'll be somewhere a little more private so I can run a few drills," Sora informed the three just as he was about to disappear into the crowd.

When all signs of Sora were gone, Roxas finally released his best friend so that he could join Ventus in glaring at the taller boy. "Nice job, flame brain," he scolded. "Are you trying to set him off?"

"I'm sorry! It was slipping about before I even realized it," Lea insisted with his hands up in self-defense. "But can you really blame me? I mean, you both saw his face when he came in with her, right? Or how about when he turned to wave at the girl? Or even when we realized that Ice Princess was picking on her? I mean, that wasn't just old Sora coming out. That was something else entirely."

"Even if that were true, that's still no excuse for you to go and say things like that to him, or even around him. Not while the wound from what happened to Kairi is still healing," Ventus admonished, making Lea feel a lot smaller all of a sudden as he spoke. The blonde took a deep breath in order to calm his own nerves and then stated, "Still, you do have a bit of a point. Even if it isn't what you're thinking it is, Lea, there was something about that Ruby girl that seemed to bring out more of the old Sora than any of the rest of us have managed to bring back, so maybe…Just maybe…"

"You know, you almost sound like you're thinking about setting those two up," Roxas informed his twin in all but blood.

"I wouldn't go that far just yet. If anything, I say we just keep an eye on Sora, at least when he's around Ruby, and see what happens later on," Ventus cautioned. He then shot a look at Lea and added, "Which means no crazy schemes to get them alone with each other like they're on some weird date."

"What? Why are looking at me," Lea asked, sounding more than a little offended at the accusation.

The two blondes just rolled their eyes in response and began making their way to the ballroom with the other students. They did not plan on going after Sora right now, since they figured it would be better to leave him be for now, but if he was gone for too long, then they did intend to go and find him later. It would be bad for him to not get any sleep before a big test like this initiation that Goodwitch mentioned was probably going to be tomorrow.

---

Night had fallen over Beacon, and there was still no sign of Sora joining the other students in the ballroom. Roxas, Lea, and Ventus were more than a little worried now, especially given what they had heard from Riku about Sora's recent training habits, and they were not about to let Sora run that routine here, at least not tonight, when they had a big test to worry over in the morning. As such, the two blondes had felt that they should all go and search for their friend, but Lea insisted that the two stay put while he went and looked for Sora alone. Admittedly, he did feel pretty responsible for what had happened earlier, so it just made sense that he go and drag Sora away from whatever regimen he was working through on his own. That had been almost half an hour ago now, and there was still no sign of the two, but Roxas had reassured Ven that Lea was an old pro at finding missing friends and bringing them back to where he felt that they needed to be, so he quieted his urge to get up and go after the two.

It became easier when he heard someone approach them, and turned to see a familiar blonde boy from the airship glancing to them a little nervously. "Uh, do you guys mind if I grab a spot over here," the boy asked. "It seems like everywhere else is taken."

"Go for it. We're saving a couple spots for our friends, but there's still plenty of room here," Ventus offered.

"Thanks," the boy nodded as he started setting up his sleeping bag.

After another minute or so, Ventus could not help but ask, "Say, aren't you that guy who threw up on the ship?"

That drew a slightly irritated sigh from the other boy, but he still admitted, "Yeah, that's me, but come on! Motion sickness is actually a much more common problem than people let on."

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean anything offensive by it, but a first impression like that is a little hard to forget," Ventus tried to placate. That did seem to lighten the other boy's mood at least a bit, so Ven decided to finally put a name to the guy's face. "Anyways, my name's Ventus, but you can just call me Ven. What's your name?"

The other blonde grinned a little more upon hearing that question, and proudly declared, "The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

"…Do they," Ventus asked skeptically.

"They will! Well, I…I hope they will," Jaune admitted. He then glanced over to the other spiky haired blonde that was with Ventus, and asked, "So what's with your brother? Is he not really the talkative type?"

"No, I was just keeping an eye out for our other two friends," Roxas answered for Ventus. "And for the record, I'm not his brother. We just happen to look a lot alike."

"No kidding. I mean, I thought for sure you guys were twins," Jaune said.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Roxas shrugged. "I'm Roxas, by the way. Roxas Sheru."

"Nice to meet you, Roxas and Ven," Jaune nodded while exchanging a handshake with both boys.

At that point, Roxas heard the sounds of someone apparently struggling against something, and turned to see Ruby getting pulled along by the blonde girl from earlier towards a girl with black hair who was sitting by a lit candle as she read a book. Feeling a little interested in what was going on over there, he excused himself from his fellow blondes so that he could better listen in, or at the very least, ask Ruby if she had seen Sora or Lea recently. Roxas was not sure entirely sure if the other two heard him or not, but he was already up and going over, so it was not like it mattered at that point. He had actually just gotten over to the three when he started being better able to hear what they were saying to each other a little more clearly.

"What's it about," Ruby had asked, surprising the black haired girl a little. "Your book. Does it have a name?"

"Well…it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body," the black haired girl answered.

"Oh, yeah, that's…real lovely," the blonde girl commented in uncertainty.

'It also sounds pretty familiar to something I've had the pleasure of being part of before,' Roxas thought to himself, thinking back to the time when Sora had been carrying around his, Ven's, and Xion's hearts inside of his own. Sure, none of them ever actually fought for control of Sora's body, save for that one time when he fought Sora in the World That Never Was, but he could still see a similarity or two in there.

"I love books," Ruby informed the black haired girl. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters…they're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress."

"Why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after," the black haired girl questioned, almost sounding a little amused by the notion, but Roxas could have sworn that he picked up on something in her voice that indicated she had a hard time believing such a thing could exist.

"Well, I'm hoping we all will," Ruby admitted. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

"That's very ambitious for a child," the black haired girl praised. She then looked away with a downcast look when she added, "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"You'd be surprised how often it can be, though," Roxas stated, startling the three girls when he joined in. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but overhear."

"Oh, don't worry about it, cutie," the blonde girl reassured him with a sly look.

Roxas may still be learning a few things about how to live a normal life, but he did know enough to recognize what that look meant, so he had no problem backing up a little as he said, "I have a girlfriend, Miss…"

"Xiao Long. Yang Xiao Long," the blonde girl replied. "And you are…?"

"Roxas. Nice to meet you." He then looked over to the only girl of the three he was at least a little familiar with and asked, "And you're Ruby, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know," Ruby asked. She quickly became nervous when she begged, "Please tell me it's not because you saw when I exploded."

"Uh…No. I'm actually a friend of Sora's, and I heard a little bit about you from him," Roxas replied, all the while wondering what she meant by that. "Speaking of which, have any of you seen him recently? He kind of…disappeared on us after the ceremony."

Before any of the girls could reply, they all heard someone shouting, "LET GO OF ME ALREADY YOU…YOU…YOU BIG PYRO TREE!"

"Oh no! Not happening, Mister. Not until I've gotten you into a sleeping bag so you can get some proper shut eye for that initiation we have tomorrow," another voice that Roxas recognized all too well snapped in return, making the blonde boy sigh when he did.

"Never mind," Roxas tiredly groaned as he joined the girls in turning around to see who was causing all the racket. Just as Roxas suspected, there was Lea dragging Sora into the room via a tight headlock, while Sora himself was madly flailing about in an attempt to get free of the redhead's grasp. Seeing that, Roxas could only smack his forehead while wondering aloud, "How is it that I'm the more mature one between me and him? I mean, really, Axel."

"I told you, I was only going to be another ten minutes," Sora insisted as he started elbowing Lea in the stomach, neither of them having noticed their audience as of yet.

"Yeah, that's what you said when I found you, and yet twenty minutes later, you were still going! Forgive me if I'm not all that trusting of your word after that," Lea argued, and since he was still struggling to keep his hold on the spiky haired brunette, he failed to notice that his best friend was slowly creeping closer to him, while signaling for the girls to keep quiet.

When he finally reached the two, still keeping a safe distance so that he would not accidentally get hit by Sora, Roxas jumped a little closer and happily declared, "There you are!"

"WHOA," the redhead exclaimed with a start, unceremoniously dropping Sora when he did. "Where did you come from?"

Roxas just laughed a little at how he managed to get one over on his best friend, before he finally teased, "So much for the mighty Flurry of Dancing Flames."

"Hey, I'd like to see how well you would do at staying aware of your surroundings while trying to keep this nut in place when he's fussing like a big baby," Lea retorted.

"I was not! And even if I was, it was for good reason," Sora insisted. "I was still running through some training."

"And we've got the whole time we're at this school for you to do that. Right now, you should just worry about getting some sleep. I'm not about to let you or any of us get kicked out of Beacon on the first day just because you slept through the initiation," Lea insisted.

"Wait, Sora, were you really training by yourself this late at night," Ruby asked, announcing hers, Yang's, and the other girl's presence to the recently arrived boys.

Now it was Sora who jumped in surprise a little, having not noticed Ruby was there until, but he still managed to smile at her when he replied, "Well, actually, I've been training since the ceremony ended. Gotta make sure to stay in shape and all that, you know?"

"Yeah, but that was hours ago. There is such a thing as working out too much," Ruby lightly admonished. "Plus, rest is just as important, otherwise your body's likely to burn out at a bad time. Just leave any more workouts for the initiation tomorrow. Trust me; I'm sure any monsters we fight during the test will give you a good work out."

"Okay, sure, you guys win," Sora finally sighed in resignation, surprising Roxas and Lea when he did. The two had heard from Riku how hard it was to get Sora to stop his intense training and call it a night, so to see that this girl he had only known for less than a day easily did so with just a few simple words was shocking to say the least. It was only even more so for Lea, since he had to wrestle with Sora the entire walk back here from where he had found the kid.

"Huh. Did not see that coming," was all that Lea could say in response to this. He shook it off though, and said, "So from that little exchange, I'm guessing you're Ruby, right?"

"Yeah, that would be her, but I don't think we got your name, Stranger," Yang questioned, and despite the fact that she was trying to sound like a suspicious and protective older sibling, the effect ultimately failed when everyone saw the grin on her face.

"Who am I? Oh, the name's Lea. Got it memorized," the redhead proudly declared.

"That depends on whether or not you can make it memorable," Yang teased back.

"Oh trust me, Goldie, I've got plenty of ways to make sure the memory of me is burned into your mind," Lea promised.

Hearing that, Sora and Roxas both groaned as they dropped their heads into their palms. "Really? Fire puns," Roxas questioned. "You've reached a new low, Axel."

"Axel? I thought he said his name is Lea," the black haired girl asked.

"It is. Axel's an old nickname that I used to go by a while back, and some of our friends have just gotten too used to calling me that, even after I've made it clear that I was going to be using my real name from now on," Lea revealed.

Having noticed the third girl in the gathering, Sora finally turned to face her, and easily recognized her. "Hey, wait a minute. Weren't you that other girl from the courtyard? The one who corrected me when I called Weiss a princess?"

"Yeah. My name's Blake," the girl finally revealed.

"Nice to properly meet you, Blake. I'm Sora," the Kingdom Key wielder said with a smile.

"So you're the Sora that my little sister's been going on about, huh," Yang questioned, now looking just as serious as she had attempted to be when she was questioning Lea earlier.

"Your sister," Sora repeated, not entirely sure who Yang was talking about.

"Uh Sora, this is my older sister, Yang," Ruby introduced on the blonde girl's behalf.

"Hold on. You two are sisters," Lea asked, voicing the very same question that Roxas, Sora, and even Blake were all wondering. "You don't really look it that much. I mean, our friend Ventus looks more like he could be Roxas's brother than you two look like you could be sisters."

Yang and Ruby both shrugged in response to this, as the former replied, "Yeah, we get that a lot, considering we really don't look too much alike. Ruby takes more after her…our mom than I do." It may have been small, but it was not quite to the point where the three Keybearers had missed the near slip that Yang had made. Before they could think on it though, Yang suddenly started circling around Sora, looking him over with a very scrutinizing gaze as if she were sizing him up for something. When all three boys turned to Ruby for an explanation, she could only shrug back in return, not knowing what her older sister was up to at the moment either. Finally, Yang came to a stop in front of Sora, nodded, and finally let out a smile as she declared, "All right. You've got the Yang seal of approval."

"Great…For what," Sora asked, hoping that she would explain her sudden strange behavior.

"For dating my little sister. What else," Yang replied with a grin.

While Blake actually let out an amused smile at first, finding the comment funny, she quickly frowned in concern when she somehow managed to overhear the worried groans that Roxas and Lea let slip. "Urgh, are you kidding me," the former had grumbled.

"Aw, not again. I just got him here," Lea quietly moaned, failing just as much as Roxas to notice how Blake was looking at them like she had heard their concerned reactions, or the way her bow slightly twitched when she did.

Thankfully, it seemed that their worries were misplaced, because instead of reacting like he had earlier to Lea's teasing, Sora just ended up doing a very impressive impression of a tomato, while Ruby turned as red as her hood. "What are…How did…Wh-where did you get that idea from," Sora stuttered in an attempt to demand answers from Yang.

"Yang! I told you, it's not like that! Sora's just my friend," Ruby whined cutely, even though she was trying to glare holes through her sister's skull. Despite that, it did not keep her from wishing she had her hood right now so that she could hide underneath it.

Yang appeared to ignore her sister in favor of answering Sora's question. "I just got that kind of vibe from Ruby when she was telling me about you earlier. How you came to her rescue like a noble and selfless hero straight out of a fairy tale. It's just so cute! My baby sister finally has her first crush!"

"Enough, Yang! It's not like that! Just cut it out," Ruby insisted once more, this time lunging for sister, and starting the kind of impromptu wrestling match that all siblings would get into from time to time.

It may have been a strange sight to behold, but Roxas and Lea would take that over Sora running off in a huff again. Plus, the fact that Sora was now reduced to a stuttering, sputtering mess in his own attempts to deny any such notions that he and Ruby were anything more than friends was also pretty humorous. Eventually, Sora just gave up, thinking he should let the sisters hash it out on their own, and said, "Let's just…L-let's just go to bed now. Good night, Ruby. Night, Yang. Night, Blake."

Since the sisters were still wrestling with each other, only Blake replied to Sora's farewell for the night, but she did do so with a small smile. "Good night, Sora, Lea, Roxas. It was nice meeting all of you. And the same goes for you as well Ruby and…"

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep," a shrill voice interrupted before Blake could finish, making the sisters stop what they were doing at last as they turned to the speaker with the boys. Unfortunately, they all recognized the white haired girl who had approached them, and most of them were too thrilled to see each other again.

"Oh, not you again," Yang, Sora, and Weiss all yelled upon seeing one another, though Sora was most definitely standing on the same side as Yang in this, seeing as the Schnee heiress had definitely left a bad impression on Ruby's older sister as she had on him.

Ruby on the other hand was quick to try and play peacemaker between the two sides. "Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, now you're on my side," Weiss grumbled in response to Ruby's attempt.

"I was always on your side," Ruby insisted.

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?! She's just trying to be nice," Yang demanded.

"She's a hazard to my health," Weiss retorted.

"And you're a stuck-up bully," Sora shot back.

"How dare you, you little ruffian," Weiss growled, now fully turning on Sora. What Weiss did not realize was that, like Ruby, Sora also had some backup. The only difference was that Sora's was double in numbers, even if only one of those two had stepped up.

"Hey, Ice Princess, if you've got some kind of problem with my pal, Sora, or really any of my friends, then how about you take it up with me," Lea angrily challenged. "Assuming you can stand the heat."

Weiss just growled a little more before ultimately spinning around on one heel and marching back to her sleeping space. As he watched the heiress go, Roxas could not help but look to Blake and say, "Well, this is going to make things…interesting."

"That's one way to put it," Blake nodded along before setting her book down at last and turning to blow out her candles.

With the light from the small flames going out, the group finally dispersed so that they could turn in for the night and rest up. Sora and Lea only paused for a second to let Ven introduce them to Jaune, but when they all turned in so that the figurative realm of sleep could pull them in, they could all agree that they were eager for whatever tomorrow may bring, assuming that they did not have many more encounters with Weiss.

---

AN: And there you have it! Our Keyblade wielding heroes have met Ozpin and Goodwitch, they're set up with their own Scrolls and some basic knowledge about Remnant so they can better blend in, they've had some meet and greets with some familiar and favorite RWBY characters, and the events of Shinning Beacon, have all been covered in this one chapter. Plus, Yang's already getting a head-start on teasing her little sister about her and Sora.

Ruby: [lifts hood up to hide her blushing face while whimpering a little] It's not that funny.

Lea: Not to mention that our boy Sora got a chance to tell off Weiss. You can't tell me that wasn't impressive.

AN: Yeah, I know Weiss isn't all that bad, or mean, and that she does mellow out over time, but keep in mind, this is Weiss at the very beginning, so of course Sora's only going to see her being a bully to poor Ruby.

Jaune: So why'd you pretty much cut me out from the moment when I was supposed to meet Ruby for the first time?

AN: It was nothing personal, man, but it seemed a little better to have Sora fill that spot, and like a good moment for the two to start forming their big connection. Besides, it's not like I cut you out completely. You did still get some screen time in.

Ventus: And he wasn't the only one, either. Not unless you skipped over that cameo that a few friends of ours made.

AN: True that. I just had to keep that scene featuring Aqua and Terra in here from the original version of Remnant of the Key. It seemed like a pretty funny moment in my opinion, and like something I could see Aqua doing if she really did get close enough to Sora and Ventus both to end up in a big-sister type of role. On the flip side, we all got to see a little more of Salty Sora, for lack of a better way to put it. Don't worry, we won't see him getting upset over every little, passing mention about Kairi in every chapter, but I did feel like it was necessary to showcase that here.

Speaking of showcasing, as you all have probably figured out by now, Sora's still got his basic move-set from KH3, meaning the Flowmotion and magic powers are still at their best, and I will also go ahead and confirm that he's also still got the ability to use Attraction Flow and his Heart Binders. He's just not going to be using those last two as much so that he can better maintain his secret of being from another world, so those will be last resort things. Unlike his Keyblade transformations, which he will still have. I mean, it's not like transforming weapons is something that you don't see all the time on Remnant. I mean, hello! Literally almost everything on that world is also a gun! So yeah, expect to at least see him using his Shooting Star Keyblade as well.

Other Keychains that Sora has right now include...Basically every Keychain you can obtain in Kingdom Hearts 3, plus his own Oathkeeper and Oblivion. This does include the KH3 version of Ultima Weapon, which will be a last resort weapon of Sora's, since it triggers his most powerful and most obvious form change, at least while he's on Remnant and trying to hide his secret. If he doesn't have to worry about prying eyes or people who don't already know, at least as far as good guys are concerned, or if he's on another world, then there is a higher chance that he'll use it a bit more openly along with all of his other abilities.

The same can be said about Ventus, Lea, and Roxas in terms of their own powers. They will all be holding back a little bit in order to better maintain their cover, but they will still be using a fair amount of their usual powers in various situations. For Ventus, he's still got his Fever Pitch, Wingblade, and Cyclone Command Styles, along with all the Keychains he collected in Birth By Sleep, plus his own version of the Starlight Keychain, while Lea has all the Keychains fire-themed Keychains in his arsenal now, even though he mainly uses Flame Liberator when in a fight (And yes, that is in fact the name of his Keyblade). I'm still thinking over which Keychains Roxas will be using here, since he does still have the ability to use two Keyblades, but I can confirm that all of his will more than likely be Keychains that he had in 358/2 Days. It's just a matter of deciding which ones would work best here. As for whether or not Ventus and Roxas get Keyblade transformations...well, that's still up in the air, but I do hope to have Sora eventually teach all of his friends how to use Flowmotion later on in the story. More on stuff like that later though, namely as the story progresses.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think that's everything I was going to go over here in this note today. You know, aside from mentioning that the bond between Lea and Yang seems to have already sparked into a small blaze already.

Everyone other than AN and Yang: [groaning at the pun]

AN: Okay, I probably deserved that.

Yang: I thought it wasn't too bad.

AN: Yeah, that's part of the reason why I'm saying that I probably deserved that. Let's just wrap this up and move Onto the Preview!...

It's initiation time, and while some of the students are apprehensive about partners (Ruby), others could not be more excited about both that and what else they will find in the Emerald Forest. Of course, the Keyblade wielders are all certain that they can tackle anything that they run into in the Emerald Forest, and it'll be no problem for them to make sure that they are partnered up with each other, but who's to say that they won't find at least one or two surprises during this test? Initiation gets underway, next time.

Please read and review, and may your heart be your guiding key for your landing strategy.