Well I wrote this chapter way faster than I thought I would. Mostly cause I'm a sucker for character interactions and that's basically what this chapter is, whoops, not a ton of action here, I'm saving that for the second half of this world. So this sorta makes this quite a bit of setup here, but its still really fun setup all the same, based on a movie I really, really love, so I hope you all will like this too! Enjoy!
Chapter 14: Paradise Found
Adventure is out there
Its heading our way
So grab your scarf and goggles
Let's fly!
A heavy blanket of mist hangs low and dense over the vast, rocky landscapes, obscuring light and clarity, even in the broad light of day. Unlike the lush, surrounding rainforest, teeming with life and vibrance and a cacophony of sounds, this stony maze stands silent, wrapped in mystery along with an indivisible fog. And yet, that silence is soon broken by the rushing din of a hectic, frantic chase.
Or rather, by a group of fierce hunters relentlessly pursuing their ever-crafty prey.
Said prey's speed is incredible as it practically flies across the rocky ground, breaking into the nearby forest without any sign of slowing. Undaunted, the hunters follow after it, willing to track it down for as far and as long as they have to in order to catch their elusive prize. Even so, their prey is clever, faster than any of the many traps that have been set across the jungle for it, from cages, to nets, to hair-trigger blow darts. It rushes past them all, never tripping up until it finally runs into a surprisingly natural trap it can't escape from so easily: a dead end.
The bird stumbles to a stop as it reaches a small clearing, tall, impassible rocks barring its path forward on all sides. Thinking quickly, it turns to retreat in the opposite direction, only for its hunters to cut off its backpedaling retreat instead.
Each of the dogs viciously snarl as they step out into the light, their teeth barred as they crouch low, ready to spring at the bird at a moment's notice. The lights on their collars flash bright red, clearly setting the startled bird off even more. And yet, even with the odds clearly stacked against it, it somehow manages to outsmart the canines yet again, just as it always does. For with one single, magnificent leap, the mighty creature performs an agile leap clear over the dogs' heads, deftly landing before escaping in a flash. The dogs are more than ready to follow suit after it once more, refusing to give up so easily. Yet before they can, something suddenly stops them in their tracks: a loud, high pitched whining noise, one that instantly pierces their sensitive ears, stunning them in the process. The canines wince in pain, their focus broken as they mutually whimper and scramble, all in an attempt to spare themselves from the unsavory squeal, even if it means letting the bird get away once more.
However, what the dogs don't see as they hurry away is the source of this noise passing by just a few feet away, under the cover of a colorful collection of countless balloons.
"Look, I'm just saying, a huge x-shaped scar just disappearing out of nowhere isn't totally out of the question," Sora explains to his companions. His manner is calm and casual as he hangs his hands behind his head while they walk along. "After all, it's not like we haven't had a lot weirder things than that happen to us before, right?"
"Hmph! It'd be a lot less weird if you actually did show us that the scar really was gone!" Donald huffs, clearly disgruntled by Sora's continued stubbornness on the matter.
"Shucks, I still think the fact that it up and disappeared on its own would still make it pretty weird…" Goofy notes, trying his best to alleviate the ongoing friction with a small chuckle.
"Why can't you guys just take my word for it already?" Sora groans, exasperated. "What, you don't trust me?"
"No," Donald says bluntly.
"Aw, we do trust you, Sora," Goofy counters much more good-naturedly. "We just wanna make sure you're not hurt anymore! It's like Donald said; it's our job to keep an eye on you. And even if it wasn't, we still would anyway 'cause we care about you! Don't we, Donald?"
The magician hesitates to reply to this, maintaining his dry, bitter expression for as long as he can, until it finally inevitably breaks a bit under the scrutinizing gaze of his companions. "Yeah, yeah," he finally grumbles, averting Sora's gaze in particular. "Sure we do. More than we should considering all the headaches you like to cause us."
Sora finally cracks a small smile at this, sensing the genuine meaning behind Donald's otherwise sarcastic words. That, paired with Goofy's unhidden thoughtful sentiments, is almost, almost enough to finally get him to comply with their wishes, to show them what they've been asking to see ever since they left the previous world. Yet ultimately, he's quick to stop himself before he can, knowing all too well exactly what they'll see if he does. And given just how much they've been pressing him on the matter, he can only imagine how they'd both react to finally figuring out the truth he's being so careful to hide.
So instead, Sora lets out a small sigh, offering his companions a reassuring smile as he finally turns around to face them. "I'm glad you guys care so much about me," he says warmly, earnestly. "But the scar really is gone. I'm fine."
"You promise?" Donald asks, still clearly doubtful.
"I promise," Sora nods firmly, more than relieved to finally leave the touchy matter behind. "Now, we really should get looking for the next Key around here, don'tcha think?"
"A Key? Here?" Donald asks. He spares an incredulous glance around the dense rainforest they've been venturing through ever since they arrived in this new world. "What makes you think we'll find one in a place like this?"
"Yeah, there doesn't seem to be much here aside from trees 'n… well, more trees!" Goofy points out.
"Mm… no, there's definitely one here," Sora counters as he presses on ahead.
"Wha—How do you know?!" the magician demands.
"It's like I said last time; it just sorta… feels like there's one here."
"Gawrsh, what's that 'feel' like exactly?" Goofy scratches his head, confused.
"It feels like…" Sora trails off, giving himself a moment to think. "I dunno, some sort of instinct or something? That's the right word, isn't it?"
"An instinct?" Donald raises an eyebrow. "You're telling us you have some special 'instinct' that tells you where these Keys are supposed to be?"
"Hey, I found the last one, didn't I?" Sora counters defensively. "Besides, it's not like we really have much else to go on here. So if my 'Keys Instinct' is the only lead we've got, then we might as well follow it!"
"Keys Instinct it is!" Goofy chuckles, readily on board with this plan.
"We're not calling it that," Donald scowls, annoyed.
Even so, the trio continues on through the jungle, not spotting much of anything, Key or otherwise, amidst the lush, tropical foliage flanking them on all sides. However, the rainforest is hardly inescapable, for soon enough, they find a break in the vast tree line, one that leads them to a sight far beyond anything they had been expecting.
"Whoa…" Sora gasps, awestruck. He steps out of the forest first, absolutely captivated by the incredible landscape stretching out ahead of them. Likewise, Donald and Goofy find themselves equally amazed as they unanimously decide to take a moment to stop and take it all in.
A grand, deep valley lay far below the elevated collection of mesas the trio is apparently standing atop, green and sprawling with wildlife for as far as the eye can see under the deep, cloudless blue skies above. But what's even more spectacular is what awaits at the far end of the flattened rise: an immense, towering waterfall, rushing grand and wide as it flows beautifully into the winding river it feeds miles below its source. It's picturesque to say the least, a pristine natural wonder in every single sense, to the point that it almost feels like a unique kind of paradise all its own.
"Golly…" Goofy mutters, still completely astonished. "This place is amazin'…"
"You can say that again…" Donald agrees, though his amazement is immediately interrupted by a distinctive camera shutter's snap beside him. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
"What?" Sora asks, glancing away from his Gummiphone, though not before snapping another quick picture of the falls. "I wanna send a photo to Riku!"
"But I thought you said you were kinda mad at Riku…" Goofy notes with a frown.
"W-well, I was," Sora shrugs, positioning himself to get in on his own picture. "But that doesn't mean I'll stay mad at him forever. Plus I also wanna show this place to Kairi next time I see her. She'll absolutely love it!"
"You'd better not be on that phone the entire time we're here," Donald chastises as they head back into the jungle. "We have important work to do. No distractions!"
"Aw, c'mon," Sora rolls his eyes as he continues eagerly tapping away at his phone. "It's not a distraction, it's-" He's instantly interrupted as the Gummiphone is suddenly snatched right out of his hands seemingly out of nowhere. "Wha—hey! Donald! I was just about to put it away! You didn't have to just yank it out of my hands like that!"
"What are you talking about?" Donald asks, bewildered. "I didn't take your silly phone!"
"Huh?" Sora frowns, confused as he turns to his other companion. "Goofy?"
"Nope," the captain shakes his head. "I don't have it either."
"Well then who-" Sora stops short once again, this time thanks to the loud, telling squawk that rings out from just behind the trio. Startled, they all turn to finally see exactly who the phone-stealing culprit is: a bird.
The creature is far from any average-looking bird. Rather, it's huge, to say the least, towering over Sora, Donald, and Goofy alike thanks to its long legs, body, and neck. It's decked out in a vast array of vibrant, colorful feathers, topped with a bit of unique plumage on its head. And, resting squarely between its long orange beak is one other than the Gummiphone.
Confronted by such an odd animal, the trio exchanges a brief glance, unsure of what to do. The bird doesn't seem to be dangerous as it simply stands, holding onto the Gummiphone as it looks around the area with wide, curious eyes. But even so, Sora makes sure to approach it carefully as he makes an initial attempt at getting it back.
"Uh, hey there, big guy," he greets with an amiable smile, trying his best to keep his voice low as not to startle the bird. "You don't mind giving me my phone back, do you? I kind of need-" Just as Sora takes another step forward, the bird's attention darts elsewhere, apparently alerted to the presence of something else nearby. And, without sparing the trio any sort of second glance, it immediately runs off, taking the Gummiphone right along with it. "W-wait!" Sora calls, already making a meager attempt at chasing after the creature, though it's by far faster than him. "Come back!"
"Well, gee, it looks like we won't have to worry about the Gummiphone distracting you anymore, huh, Sora?" Goofy asks with a bit of a chuckle, one that Sora absolutely does not join in on.
"We gotta get it back!" he shouts, running off after the bird. "Come on!"
Neither Donald nor Goofy argue, but instead join Sora in the chase after the colorful creature. Given its intense speed, it's hard to keep track of where the bird went off to, but even so, the trio presses on through the trees in search of it all the same. Still, it doesn't take them long to lose its trail entirely, and with it, just about all sense of where they are in the jungle itself as they pause to take a much-needed break.
"W-where… where could that bird be?" Sora asks as he breathlessly leans against a tree to recoup.
"Hmph, looks like it's gone," Donald concludes unsympathetically. "Which means no more wasting time sending pictures to Riku and Kairi."
"H-hey!" Sora protests, flustered. "That wasn't all I used the phone for… I also, um… uh… hm…"
"Say, fellas," Goofy interjects, his attention focused on a break in the canopy of trees overhead. "Have either of you ever seen balloons in a jungle before?"
"Balloons?" both Sora and Donald ask in confused unison. Goofy responds by pointing upwards past the trees, to where, sure enough, a vast array of colorful balloons pokes through, floating clustered together somewhere just ahead of their position.
"Whoa… I wonder what's up with that…" Sora says, stepping forward while he keeps a curious eye on the balloons. "We should go check it out!"
"What about your phone?" Donald asks with a knowing grin.
"Mm… well, maybe we'll find it along the way!" Sora assures, clearly hopeful that they will as he takes the lead once again. Since the balloons aren't too far away, they don't really have too far to go; however, they're soon stopped short upon hearing an all-too familiar coo coming from a clearing nearby.
"The bird!" all three of them exclaim, though they're quick to drop their voices and carry an air of stealth as they creep towards the clearing. However, what they find just past the thicket of trees before them is even more bewildering than their first meeting with the bird itself had been.
Sure enough they've found the colorful creature, though it soon becomes clear that someone managed to beat them to it first. For standing right in front of the much taller creature is a young boy, clad in some sort of bright yellow uniform, decked out with a sash laden with countless different badges. The boy turns, caught off guard by the trio's sudden arrival, though he still holds onto the chocolate bar he's offering to the bird all the same. Still, his surprise doesn't last too long as he soon breaks into a friendly smile instead.
"Oh, hello!" the boy greets the trio brightly. "Are you guys looking for a snipe too?" he nods to the bird as it steals a small nibble off his chocolate bar.
"Um… maybe…?" Sora ventures, even if he's not entirely sure what a 'snipe' is. "Is that what that bird is?"
"Hm…" the boy frowns thoughtfully. "Well, Mr. Fredrickson said snipes are supposed to be birds, but… he didn't really say what they're supposed to look like so… yeah, I think he's a snipe!"
"Well, then, yeah," Sora smiles, allayed. "I guess we're looking for a snipe too. You didn't happen to see him drop a phone around here, did you?"
"Oh, you mean this?" the boy reaches into his large backpack. Much to the trio's shared relief, he pulls out the relatively undamaged Gummiphone.
"Yes, that's it!" Sora nods excitedly as the boy begins to hand it over to him. "Thanks so-" Before he can even finish, the bird suddenly reaches in, swiping the Gummiphone into its beak once more and keeping its reclaimed prize high out of anyone's reach. "Aw, not again!" Sora huffs, thoroughly annoyed at this point.
"Hey! Stealing isn't very nice!" the boy wags a disapproving finger at the bird. He pauses to think for a moment, before coming up with a quick idea that, once again, involves his chocolate bar. "Here, boy! I'll give you some more chocolate if you put the phone down!"
The bird instantly perks up at such an offer and complies, outright spitting the Gummiphone out in Sora's direction to partake in yet another bite of the sweet snack. Inevitably, the phone ends up hitting Sora on the side of his head, eliciting an amused laugh from his companions, though fortunately it somehow lands in his hands all the same. "Yeesh…" he mutters, rubbing the sore spot on the side of his head. "Who knew having a phone would be so much trouble? Still, thanks for the help," he says, offering the boy with a genuine smile as he kneels down to speak to him on his level. "I'm Sora, by the way."
"I'm Donald!" the magician chimes in.
"And I'm Goofy," the captain finishes off with a friendly wave.
"My name is Russell," the boy introduces himself, quickly pulling what appears to be a small guidebook out of his pack. "And I am a Wilderness Explorer in Tribe 54, Sweatlodge 12. That means I am a friend to all of nature, like this snipe here!"
"Oh, cool!" Sora grins, though it soon falls a bit into slight concern. "But, uh… what are you doing out here in the jungle all by yourself, Russell?"
"Oh, I'm not by myself," Russell shakes his head. "I'm with Mr. Frederickson! I'm assisting him with walking his flying house over to Paradise Falls!"
"Flying house?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all balk in equally baffled unison.
"Come on, I'll show you!" Russell exclaims, encouraging the trio to follow him as he heads back into the jungle. "Mr. Fredrickson will be so excited to meet you. He really likes being around other people!"
After a shared, curious glance, the trio decides to trail after the young Wilderness Explorer, with the so-called 'snipe' trailing not too far behind. And, after cutting a short path through the forest, they eventually make it to the very flying house Russell had told them about.
The trio pauses, awestruck as they look up to the simple, yet elegant double-level home, impossibly suspended in midair by the very plethora of balloons they had spotted earlier, each of them as vibrantly colorful as the house itself was. Keeping the house anchored from flying away altogether is the garden hose attached to it, currently tied to a low-bearing branch of a larger tree. And, checking over that harness is, surprisingly enough, a short, squarish elderly man; 'Mr. Fredrickson', no doubt.
"I found the snipe!" Russell announces as they arrive.
"Oh, did you?" Mr. Fredrickson asks dryly, his back turned to the group as he continues tending to the floating house.
"Are they tall?" Russell asks, glancing up at the towering bird beside him.
"Oh yes, they're very tall," the old man nods, clearly just humoring the boy.
"Do they have a lot of colors?"
"They do indeed."
"Do they like chocolate?"
"Oh, ye—chocolate?" Mr. Fredrickson finally turns, instantly letting out a frightened cry the moment he catches sight of the massive creature. "W-what is that thing?! A-and who are those three?!" he demands, pointing towards the equally startled trio.
"It's a snipe!" Russell grins proudly. "And these are my new friends!"
"There's no such thing as a snipe!" the old man counters, pulling the boy away from both the bird and the trio. "A-and as for you three! Where'd you come from!? Nobody's supposed to be out here! We're in the middle of nowhere!"
"But what about us, Mr. Fredrickson?" Russell inquires innocently.
"Wha—T-that's different," Mr. Fredrickson counters dismissively before addressing the trio once more. "What, are you three gonna tell me you came down here in a flying house too?"
"No," Sora corrects. "We came here in a Gummi Shi-"
"Order!" Donald reminds sharply and succinctly.
"Oh, right!" Sora quickly counters himself. "We came in, uh… um… You know what? Let's just start over. My name's Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy. And we're here to-"
"Don't waste your breath, kid," Mr. Fredrickson starkly interrupts, scowling as he shakes his head. "I don't care what you're here for. All I care about is getting my house to the falls, and the last thing I need is a traveling freak show or some… giant monster bird to get in my way. Dealing with Russell's enough of a handful as it is. Speaking of which, come on, Russell." Upon unstrapping the house's tether from the tree, he grabs the young boy's arm to continue pulling both him and the flying home along. "We've still got a long way to go."
"Aw, but Mr. Fredrickson, wait!" Russell protests, trying his best to keep his feet planted to the ground.
"Yeah, wait," Sora agrees, taking a step forward. "This may be sort of a weird question, but do you know where we could find a, um… a special Key around here?"
"A key?" Mr. Fredrickson glances over his shoulder at the trio. "Kid, what in the world are you on abou-"
A sudden panicked squawk from the bird instantly cuts through the conversation, putting everyone on high alert as it rushes past them to cower behind Russell and Mr. Fredrickson. It doesn't take anyone very long to see where the cause for alarm is coming from, as a group of swiftly-moving, strangely dancing creatures materialize into existence right before their eyes. Creatures that Sora, Donald, and Goofy recognize all too well.
"Nobodies!" Sora shouts warningly, immediately calling upon his Keyblade as Donald and Goofy take up similar battle stances.
"Oh, what now?" Mr. Fredrickson groans, more exasperated than afraid of the approaching threat.
"T-those guys don't look friendly like Kevin is!" Russell notes worriedly.
"Wha—Kevin?" Mr. Fredrickson looks to the boy, confused.
"Yeah, that's the name I just gave him," Russell points back to the bird behind them, who proceeds to abruptly tap its beak against Mr. Fredrickson's head.
"Augh! Would you just beat it already!?" the old man fusses, waving his cane at the bothersome bird before turning to do the same to the crowd of Nobodies. "Same goes to the rest of you pests too!"
"Don't worry!" Sora calls, more than ready for the fight ahead. "We'll take care of them!"
Neither Mr. Fredrickson nor Russell argue with this plan, instead opting to take cover behind the trio as they engage the horde of Nobodies in a decisive battle. The creatures move with all of their usual deadly grace and dangerous agility, making landing most direct hits on them a bit of a challenge. However, the trio still does their best to keep this fight swift and short; they cut through the Nobodies one by one, making sure none of them draw in too close to the group they're trying to protect. And sure enough, it isn't long before they bring the last Nobody down, leaving everyone else unharmed, if not a bit shaken, from the encounter.
"Hmph! They just never quit, do they?" Donald huffs in aggravation as the threat finally dies down.
"They're pretty persistent, ya gotta give them that," Goofy nods with a small laugh.
"Are you guys ok?" Sora asks, turning back to Russell and Mr. Fredrickson.
"Yeah, yeah, we're fine," Mr. Fredrickson remarks with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Still… I've never heard of any sort of animals like those things before… Then again, I've never seen anything like that either." His expression grows even more dour as he looks over at Kevin, who entertains Russell by hoisting him up onto its back for a ride.
"Those weren't animals," Sora clarifies. "They were Nobodies, and if they're here, then that means trouble's not too far behind."
"Yeah, like the Organization!" Goofy chimes in.
"And don't forget about Maleficent and Pete either," Donald reminds.
"Who?" Mr. Fredrickson asks, raising a confused eyebrow.
"Uh… let's just say they're all pretty bad news," Sora says, resolute. "It's not safe if any of them are around here, take it from us."
"Uh, yeah, I already sort of figured it wasn't safe here, kid," Mr. Fredrickson counters dryly. "We are in an uncharted, untamed jungle far away from any sort of civilization after all."
"Yeah, but those Nobodies will keep showing up," Sora counters. "Believe me, they always do. And if you're headed all the way to that waterfall, then you should let us go with you."
"To fight off the Nobodies!" Donald proclaims daringly.
"And to make sure ya get there safely!" Goofy agrees with a kindly smile.
"So, what do you say, Mr. Fredrickson?" Sora asks, hopeful.
For a moment, the elderly man says nothing, simply looking between the trio with a dubious glower. His manner does soften only slightly as he glances over at Russell, having the time of his life as he continues parading around on Kevin's back. And it softens even still as he looks up to his house, a sense of longing filling his expression before he finally lets out a relenting, if not a bit begrudging, sigh. "Ugh, fine…" Mr. Fredrickson pinches the bridge of his nose. "But I don't want any sort of wacky hijinks or silly shenanigans out of anyone. You got it?"
"Uh… no promises," Sora holds his hands up with a small smile. "But we'll try."
"And, uh, you three can call me Carl," the elderly man crosses his arms. "The kid only calls me Mr. Fredrickson 'cause he's all hyped up on his whole 'assisting the elderly' kick."
"Got it," Sora nods. "Thanks, Carl."
"Oh! You're coming to the falls with us too, Sora?" Russell asks with an excited smile as Kevin finally sets him down. "This is going to be so much fun, especially with Kevin coming along too and-"
"Eh, no," Carl immediately brings the boy's enthusiasm down a peg. "These three are coming with us, yeah, but the bird stays."
"Whaaaaat?" Russell asks, horrified, as he hurries after Carl. "B-but can't we keep him? Please? I'll get the food for him, I'll walk him, change his newspapers-"
"No," Carl says, firm in his stance.
The Wilderness Explorer lets out a small, disappointed huff, but he's far from done making his appeal just yet as he recites a short oath from his guidebook. "An Explorer is a friend to all, be it plants or fish or tiny mole."
"That doesn't even rhyme!" Carl scoffs, annoyed.
"Yeah, it does," Russell argues before letting out a gasp as he points up to the floating house above them. "Hey, look! Kevin!"
The others all look up to find that, sure enough, Kevin's taken up a perch high atop Carl's roof. It meanders about for a bit, before finally nabbing one of the balloons keeping the house afloat in its wide maw and swallowing it whole, popping it in the process.
"Heh, well at least he's not going around stealing phones this time," Sora lets out a small chuckle upon watching this.
"Hey! Get down!" Carl shouts up at the bird angrily. "You're not allowed up there! You get down here right now!"
Surprisingly, Kevin complies, performing a steady leap before landing squarely on the ground and sheepishly hiding behind Russell to avoid any further scolding. Carl scowls back at it before shaking his head, letting out another exasperated sigh as he glances up to his house once more. "Sheesh… can you believe this, Ellie?"
The others all exchange a wondering glance at this, though Russell is the first to hatch an idea out of this as he looks up to the house as well with a small, pleading smile. "Uh… Hey, Ellie? Could I keep the bird?" he lets the question hang in the air for a moment, pretending as though "Ellie" responds to him. "Uh huh, uh uh, huh. She said for you to let me keep him," he says to Carl brightly.
"B-but I told him no-" Carl quickly catches himself, shaking his head as he turns back to Russell. "I told you no. N-O!"
Ultimately though, the argument is left unfinished as Kevin suddenly hisses at Carl, eliciting another disgruntled huff from the elderly man. In its wake, he simply presses onward, house in tow and his group of rather unwanted traveling companions not too far behind. All the while, however, the trio can't help but cast the occasional curious glance up at the house hovering above them, wondering if there's more to this peculiar situation than there seems to be.
"Who's Ellie?" Sora whispers to his companions, not really wanting to perturb Carl any further. Of course, neither Donald nor Goofy have any sort of answer to this as they both simply shrug, leaving yet another lingering question about their newfound adventure hanging up in the air.
Considering the heavy house they have to carefully escort, traveling across the mesas proves to be a much slower process than anyone in the group would have liked. According to Carl, they only have about three days in total to get the house to the falls before the balloons will no longer be able to support its weight. And yet, despite this tight time limit, it hardly seems as though they're making any progress at all, even as they finally make it out of the rainforest and out into a more open, rocky, misted landscape. Still, most of the others make an attempt at passing the otherwise dull hike with conversation, save for Carl, who continues to sullenly take lead, his only interest being just as he'd said before, getting his house to the top of the distant falls.
"So then I steered the house using my GPS all the way here to Paradise Falls!" Russell exclaims as he regales the trio with the story of his and Carl's journey thus far. "But then we fell out of the house, so now we have to walk it like a parade balloon!"
"Ohhh, ok," Sora nods, glad to finally have a bit more context. Even if that context is still, by all accounts, quite bizarre. "So… what are you guys gonna do once we actually get the house to the falls?"
"Oh, we're gonna-" Russell stops short, frowning as he looks up ahead to Carl. "Uh… Mr. Fredrickson, what are we gonna do when we get the house to the falls?"
"We'll get it to the falls," Carl answers shortly. "And that's the end of that."
"So you're just gonna stay there with it?" Goofy asks, concerned.
"Forever?" Donald adds on, equally confused.
"Yes," Carl says sourly before retracting a bit. "I-I don't know, maybe. Look, I haven't figured out that part yet. The only thing I'm concerned about is actually getting it there in the first place. Just like she always wanted…" The elderly man mutters his last statement to himself, casting yet another wistful glance up at the house before turning his attention back on the path ahead. Even if he does spare a curious look back at the trio trailing a bit behind him. "So earlier you fellas mentioned something about a key?"
"Oh, yeah," Sora nods intently. "We never finished talking about it earlier before those Nobodies showed up."
"We're out here lookin' for a special Key," Goofy informs. "Finding it is real important to us."
"So if you know anything about where we could find it, we'd really appreciate it," Donald adds just as earnestly.
"You really think you're gonna find some tiny key in a place this huge?" Carl scoffs incredulously. "Good luck with that. I don't know a single thing about it."
While Donald and Goofy let out a shared sigh of disappointment at this, Sora takes it in stride with a small shrug instead. "Eh, it was worth a shot to ask."
"So what's the key for?" Russell curiously inquires as he keeps pace alongside Sora. "A car? A puzzle dungeon? Oh! A treasure chest? I've always wanted to go on a treasure hunt!"
"Um… it's for…" Sora trails off, looking to his companions for help with this. After all, it's not like explaining the concept of Kingdom Hearts is the simplest thing to do, especially not without completely shattering world order in the process.
"It's… not for a treasure chest," Donald fills in just in time. "Let's just say… the Key is more of the treasure itself…"
"Well said, Donald," Goofy chuckled as Sora let out a loud sigh of relief.
"I know," Donald whispers back discreetly. "Better than Sora could have ever said it, that's for sure."
"Hey!" Sora shoots back defensively.
"Hmph," Carl pipes up dryly. "Must be one heck of a Key if you three came all this way to look for it." He stops short, however, upon catching sight of the most unwanted member of their traveling party still stalking along behind them. "By the way, I see you back there!"
Kevin squawks at this, slipping away from the ongoing trail of chocolate Russell's been leaving behind for it to hide behind a rock that barely even conceals it. Of course, Carl notices this and finally turns, glaring at the bird as he shakes his cane at it once more. "Go on, get out of here!" he shouts at it as it remains in its poor hiding spot. "Shoo! Go annoy someone else for a while!"
"Hey, are you ok over there?!" A sudden, distant call instantly catches the entire group by surprise, to the point that none of them notice Kevin suddenly flee the area altogether.
"Gawrsh, did anyone else hear that?" Goofy asks, trying his best to scope out the foggy landscape.
"Uh… hello?" Carl ventures, calling back in the direction the new voice had come from. It doesn't answer right away, but soon enough, a figure begins to appear in the misty distance, one that almost appears to be in the vague shape of a person. "Huh? Someone else is up here?"
"Wha—but who?" Donald asks, curious.
"Could be the Organization," Sora notes, already on guard for any of their tricks. "We should be careful and-"
"I can smell you!" the voice calls again, largely out of nowhere.
"What?" Carl stops his approach, exchanging a baffled glance with the others. "You can smell us?"
"I can smell you!" the voice repeats, bizarrely enough.
Confused as ever, the group slowly steps forward, only to find that the 'person' they thought they'd been talking to turns out to be nothing more than a simple rock formation once they pass through the fog obscuring it. "You were talking to a rock," Russell chuckles, amused as he notices several similar formations nearby. "Hey, that one looks like a turtle. And that one looks like a dog!" However, at this, the dog-shaped 'rock' moves, leaping through the fog to reveal that it isn't a rock at all. "Hey, it is a dog!" Russell gasps with a wide smile as the friendly golden retriever hurries up to him.
"What?" Carl asks, now more confused than ever before.
"Whoa, no way!" Sora grins, eagerly joining Russell in petting the pooch. "Do dogs usually hang out near the jungle around here?"
"I doubt it," Donald deadpans, crossing his arms.
"Hey! We have your dog!" Carl calls out across the landscape for anyone else who might be nearby. "Wonder who he belongs to…?"
"Sit, boy," Russell commands and the dog obediently does so. "Hey look, he's trained!"
"Cool! Let me try!" Sora grins brightly, holding a hand out to the dog. "Ok, shake." Once again, the dog is quick to comply as he raises his paw for Sora to shake it. "Good boy!" he praises, heartily patting the panting pooch on the head.
"Ok, now, speak!" Russell adds, though instead of barking, the dog does something quite unexpected.
It literally speaks.
"Hi there!"
The entire group collectively freezes up at this, absolutely baffled in the silence that follows after such an impossible feat. "D-did that dog just say 'hi there'?" Carl asks in a stiff whisper.
"Oh yes!" the dog himself replies, eliciting surprised stares from the others as he continues cheerfully, jumping up to Carl. "My name is Dug. I have just met you and I love you."
"Oh my gosh!" Sora gasps, just as amazed as Russell is by what they're hearing. "It's a talking dog! This is so cool!"
"Sora, stop acting so surprised," Donald remarks in a dry whisper. "It's not like you've never seen a talking dog before; just look at Goofy."
"Hyuck, it's true!" the captain chuckles somewhat bashfully.
Sora however, is even more dumbfounded upon receiving the rare reminder of his companions' differing species. "Wait… Goofy's a dog?!"
"You already knew that!" Donald snaps, annoyed.
"Well, yeah," Sora remarks playfully. "But it's easy to forget that. Besides this is different. It's a talking dog-dog, know what I mean?"
"Uh… no?" Goofy frowns, scratching his head.
"My master made me this collar," Dug proceeds to explain, said high-tech collar translating his rather repetitive thoughts to the others practically nonstop. "He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so that I may talk—SQUIRREL!" The dog stops short, transfixed with some unknown point in the distance before it realizes a false alarm. "My master is good and smart."
"I-it's not possible-" Carl attempts to interject before Dug quickly continues.
"Oh it is, because my master is smart," he notes once more, happily painting all the while. "I am a great tracker. My pack sent me on a special mission all by myself. Have you seen a bird? I want to find one and I have been on the scent. I am a great tracker, did I mention that?"
Before Dug can say anything else, he's suddenly tackled clean onto his back by none other than Kevin, who pins him down and lets out a sharp, threatening hiss in a failed attempt at intimidating him. "Hey, that is the bird! I have never seen one up close, but this is the bird. May I take your bird back to camp as my prisoner?"
"Yes, take it!" Carl hastily allots, shoving both Russell and the trio forward in an attempt at getting away from this strange situation. "And on the way, learn how to bark like a real dog!"
"Oh, I can bark!" Dug does so, bereft of his collar until it fills in for him once more. "And here's howling!" As the dog howls, Kevin responded harshly, hissing shrilly at him again as it continues to keep him held to the rocky ground.
"Can we keep him?" Russell pleads with Carl, a request that Sora is quick to jump in on.
"Yeah, can we?" Sora asks with a hopeful smile. "Please?"
"Wha—Ugh, I get Russell asking," Carl begins, sending Sora an incredulous look. "But what are you, kid, 5?"
"He sure does act like it sometimes," Donald agrees, just as deadpan.
"Also, no we can't keep him," the elderly man concludes staunchly.
"But it's a talking dog!" Russell appeals, dropping to his knees.
"It's just a weird trick or something," Carl scowls, turning his back on the entire group, though they all proceed to follow him all the same, including both Kevin and Dug. "Let's just get to the falls before we pick up any more strays..."
"Please be my prisoner," Dug pleads with the bird as he trails after it, failing to frighten it in any sort of way whatsoever. "Please, oh, please be my prisoner!"
"Prisoner?" Sora frowns upon hearing this. "Dug, why do you want Kevin to be your prisoner?"
"Because it is my special mission!" Dug enthusiastically explains as he lightly chomps down on Kevin's leg. Once more, the bird is unphased as it continues steadily following along after Russell. "My pack sent me to find the bird and now that I have I will bring it back to them and then they will like me!"
"Gawrsh, don't they already like ya?" Goofy asks.
"Yes, but once I bring back the bird then they will like me even more!" Dug points out before going back to pleading with Kevin once more. "So please be my prisoner, bird!"
"Dug, stop bothering Kevin!" Russell chastises, wagging his finger at the dog.
"But that man there says I can take the bird," Dug nods up to Carl. "And I love that man there like he is my master."
"I am not your master!" Carl snaps back, thoroughly irritated. Even so, Dug persists in his attempts to anchor Kevin down, even as the bird finally makes an attempt at shaking him off.
"I am warning you once again, bird!" Dug exclaims as Russell rushes in to split the two up.
"Hey! Quit it!" the boy fusses, trying his best to push Dug back. Fortunately, he receives some much-needed help from Sora, who comes in to stand between the two animals once Russell successfully separates them.
"Yeah, can't we work something out?" he suggests. "Something that doesn't involve anyone taking anyone else prisoner?"
"But I must take the bird prisoner for that is my special mission!" Dug reiterates once again, as one-track as ever as he dashes past the pair to catch up to Kevin once more. The sudden movement startles the bird, who stumbles forward as the dog latches onto it again. And in doing so, both of them bump hard into Carl, not only tripping him up but lurching his tether on the house to the point that it ends up swaying into the nearby cliffside with a resounding crash. Everyone freezes at this, looking up to the building to see that it's relatively unharmed from the impact, but even so, Carl is far from pleased with the damage that could have been sustained amidst this chaos.
"Alright, listen here," he growls, turning to the rest of the group with a severe glare. "I am nobody's master, got it? I don't want you here," he points to Dug before doing the same to Kevin. "And I don't want you here. I'm stuck with you," he nods over at Russell, then scowls at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "And I'm only letting you three come along so those no-ones or whatever they are won't get us killed. So you two," he turns to the pair of bothersome animals once more. "Can both go get lost while the rest of us keep on going so we can finally get to the falls without any more pointless sidetracks or distractions. Is that clear?!"
Of course, before anyone can even try to answer Carl's harsh question, they're inevitably faced with yet another distraction, this time in the form of a fearful cry coming from the thick cluster of trees up ahead. "Ugh, looks like I spoke too soon…" Carl groans in exasperation as he joints the others in curiously looking for the source of this scream. "Might as well see what we have to put up with this time…"
Surprisingly enough, 'this time', the interruption to their travels doesn't come in the form of another bizarre animal. Instead, the cry comes from a young man who's just broken out of the forest in a frantic run, clad in an unmistakable black coat as he pauses to catch his lost breath some distance away from the group.
"Ugh! T-those crazy dogs won't quit!" he huffs tiredly as he doubles over to recoup from whatever chase he'd just been a part of. "Go to this world and look for a Key, they said; it'll be easy, they said. Yeah, right. Could this mission get any worse?"
"Hey!" Sora's accusatory shout catches the Organization member off guard even more as he turns towards the group before him with a startled gasp.
"Aw, seriously?!" he whines loudly. "You guys are here too?! This just isn't my day…"
"You!" Sora exclaims threateningly, just about ready to summon his Keyblade if he needs to. "You're with the Organization! Uh…. What's this guy's name again?" he whispers to his companions, recognizing the face, but not the name that goes along with it.
"Hm… wasn't it Dimiss, or somethin' like that?" Goofy suggests, also finding it hard to recall.
"No, no, it was Doxmas!" Donald corrects pointedly.
"Wait, I got it!" Sora snaps his fingers with a knowing smile. "Dexys."
"It's Demyx!" the Organization member snaps impatiently. "Seriously, how could you forget?! It wasn't even that long ago that you three thrashed me! And boy, do I ever remember that if you guys don't…"
"Oh yeah, that's right!" Sora crosses his arms, recalling their previous encounters and eventual easy defeat of this particular member. "Yeesh, the Organization must really be getting desperate if they'd bring you back for another go."
"H-hey!" Demyx exclaims, flustered. "Why does everyone keep saying that?! But still… you might have a point about the higher-ups getting desperate. After all, word on the street is that the old man has you pegged for our missing number thirteen, Sora."
Despite his earlier confidence, Sora can't help but flinch at this claim, bothered to hear it coming even from someone as relatively unintimidating as Demyx. Still, he tries his best to play it off with little concern, knowing that getting a rise out of him is very likely the Organization's intention at large with their continued insistence that he's doomed to become one of them. "Y-yeah, well, maybe you should learn that word on the street isn't always accurate," he retorts as sternly as he could. "I'm not your 'missing number thirteen' and I never will be."
"Aw, come on!" Demyx coaxes evenly. "It's not so bad. We may not get paid, but we do get room and board back at the castle, three square meals a day, and these snazzy black coats. I'm sure Roxas' would already fit you just fine." Sora tenses up even more, his hands tightening into fists at his sides at such a callous mention of his Nobody. Yet before he can say anything to it, Demyx coolly continues.
"Not to mention, I'll score some major brownie points with the other members if I come back with both you and one of those special Keys," he grins, proud of such a plan. "Plus, if you join up, then maybe the others will start picking on me less and go after you instead. After all, everyone in the Organization already hates you."
"As 'fun' as that sounds," Sora remarks dryly as he rolls his eyes. "I'm not interested at all. So you might as well get used to the idea of going home empty-handed, since we're not about to let you get ahold of that Key either!"
"O-oh yeah?" Demyx counters, trying his best to be boldly challenging. "Well, I-"
"Alright, alright! Enough already!" Carl suddenly interjects, clearly aggravated by the lengthy exchange. "You!" he snaps at Sora first. "Stop holding us up by trying to pick a fight with this loser and you," he sends an equally harsh glare over at Demyx. "Get outta here, ya beatnik hippie! We've got enough useless tagalongs on this trip as it is, we don't need any more!"
"Wha—hey!" Demyx exclaims, offended. "I'm not a beatnik or a hippie—whatever that is. I'm-"
"I don't care," Carl counters flatly. "Take a hike!"
"B-but I-" Demyx cuts himself off the moment he finally happens to spot Dug amidst the group. "Ah!" he gasps in sudden fear, shrinking back a bit. "I-it's one of those crazy talking dogs!"
"Hello! My name is Dug," Dug greets as obliviously as ever.
"W-who cares?" Demyx asks tightly, calling upon his sitar for self-defense. "J-just stay the heck away from me! Same goes for all your freaky little friends!"
"But… Dug isn't crazy or freaky," Russell points out. "He's super friendly! …When he's not trying to capture Kevin…"
"Whatever!" Demyx snaps hotly as he summons a dark corridor. "I'm outta here! While you all get mauled by psycho-dogs, I'll be snatching that Key right out from your noses. Catch ya later!" He pauses just short of stepping into the darkness with a final casual shrug. "Or not. Doesn't really matter to me either way."
And with that, Demyx takes his leave, leaving the group in very much the same state he'd found them in. "Welp, that was a huge waste of time," Carl concludes staunchly, readjusting his house's harness as he prepares to press on ahead.
"Tell me about it," Sora readily agrees. "Who knows what the Organization was thinking, sending someone like him here to look for the Key?"
"Looks like we won't have too much else to worry about around here," Goofy notes, allayed.
"Well, aside from the Nobodies," Donald says mindfully.
"Eh, they're nothing we can't handle," Sora concludes confidently.
"Great," Carl deadpans. "Now, can we please get going again? I don't think I need to remind any of you that those balloons aren't gonna hold that house up forever."
"W-wait!" Russell exclaims, suddenly distraught. "Where's Kevin? He was just here a minute ago!"
"He must have wandered off when that Demyx guy showed up," Sora ventures, glancing around for the missing bird. "Dug, you said you were a great tracker. Can you find him?"
"Find the bird, find the bird," Dug mutters, instantly taking up the task before he quickly latches onto Kevin's scent. "Point!" The dog tips his nose up at the house, where Kevin sits once again perched atop the roof, though this time, it's in the midst of amassing a rather extensive pile of various supplies.
"Hey! That's my food!" Carl exclaims, realizing the bird must have broken into his kitchen when they weren't looking. "Get off my roof!"
"Yeah! Get off his-" Dug barks, aptly finishing off the command all the same. However, the bird hardly pays either of them any mind as a small, higher pitched squawk echoes out from some distance away. Kevin answers it, somehow knowing exactly where it's coming from, before continuing its work on its newfound food stash.
"What's he doin' up there?" Goofy asks, looking to the bird curiously.
"The bird is calling to her babies," Dug explains simply.
"Her babies!" Russell smiles upon hearing this, though it soon turns into stark confusion that the others all share at this news. "Wait… Kevin's a girl?!"
"Her house is over there in those twisty rocks," Dug nods over to a large grouping of rocks miles away. Thick fog largely obscures them from view, but it doesn't hide the cries of Kevin's babies echoing lightly from the formation. "She has been gathering food for her babies and must get back to them."
"Oh! Then we should help her get all that food back to them!" Sora insists without a moment's hesitation. "Especially since there's bound to be more Nobodies out there. It's not safe for anyone to try and go it alone."
"Haven't we gotten sidetracked enough?" Donald asks, shaking his head in protest.
"Uh… well…"
"Yes," Carl starkly answers in Sora's place. "And we're not letting that bird make off with all my food! And for the last time-" he shouts up at Kevin herself. "Get off my roof!"
Surprisingly, Kevin does so, jumping to the ground without any food in tow. From there, she seems to offer a series of unique farewells, from wrapping her wings around Russell in a loose hug, to tapping Carl on the head with her beak, to hissing at Dug one last time before she turns to take off to her mysterious home. "Wait… Kevin's just leaving?" Russell frowns sadly. "B-but how are we gonna make sure she gets to her babies? Sora's right, we gotta help her!"
"Sorry, boys," Carl says with only the slightest hint of sympathy as he presses on ahead. "We've lost enough time already."
"Yeah…" Russell heaves a disappointed sigh as he watches Kevin disappear into the jungle, intent on reuniting with her family. "I guess you're right…"
"I hope she'll be alright…" Sora says with a worried frown as he also watches the bird go.
"Aw, I'm sure she'll be a-ok," Goofy assures warmly.
"Especially if she runs back to her babies as fast as she did when she stole your phone," Donald notes with a small snicker, electing a dry glance from Sora.
"This was her favorite chocolate," Russell weeps lightly as he pulls the chocolate bar out of his pack before offering it up to Carl. "Because you sent her away, there's more for you."
Of course, Carl doesn't take the chocolate, instead rolling his eyes in continued exasperation with his companions' antics. And yet, it seems as though the bird apparently hasn't gone too far, as a nearby bush softly begins to rustle behind the group.
"Kevin?" Russell asks as he turns to the shrub. However, the bird doesn't emerge from the greenery. Instead, a trio of dogs, all three of them larger and much more intimidating than Dug, rush out into the open, barking and snarling all the while. The canines quickly surround the crew, not even phased as Sora, Donald, and Goofy call upon their respective weapons as a defensive tactic to keep Carl and Russell safe. All the while, Dug stands by, quite conflicted by his comrades' unexpected arrival, especially as the leader of the trio approaches him menacingly.
"Where is the bird?!" he demands, his collar emitting a strangely, almost comically high-pitched voice, despite his fierce manner and stature. "You said you would find the bird!"
"Oh, hi, Alpha!" Dug greets somewhat meekly. "Your voice sounds funny-"
"I know, I know!" Alpha snaps, irritated. "Again, I ask, where is the bird?!"
"Uh… tomorrow!" Dug nods vigorously. "Come back tomorrow and I will have the bird, yes."
Alpha reacts harshly to this news, lashing out with a deep bark that's more than enough to get Dug to shrink back in fear. "You lost it. Why do I not have a surprised feeling? Well, at least you have led us to this small mailman, this one who smells of prunes, and their bizarrely-dressed companions."
"Bizarrely-dressed?" Donald repeats, offended.
"Gawrsh, is he talkin' about us?" Goofy wonders.
"Master will be most pleased we have found them," Alpha continues with an air of smugness in his high-pitched tone. "And will ask of them many questions." The top dog approaches the group, barking loudly once more as it issues a forceful command. "Come!"
"Wha—we're not going with you!" Carl protests hotly. "We're going to the falls!"
The elderly man's attempts at continuing onward, however, are quickly stopped by the other two dogs, Beta and Gamma, who bark fiercely, snarling and baring their teeth to get him to step back. And while that attempt works on Carl and Russell, Sora isn't so easily intimidated as he instead waved his Keyblade towards the dogs, not in any real attempt at hitting them, but more for the sake of shooing them away. "Get back!" he warns firmly, though likewise, the dogs themselves are hardly phased by his efforts as one of them chomps down on the end of his Keyblade. While Sora usually wouldn't have minded something like this happening to his sturdy weapon, this time he does, especially as he happens to catch the briefest glimpse of the recurring crack marring its surface. And for a moment, that crack is all he can really see as he lets the weapon slip out of his hands, allowing it to disappear into thin air as he takes an anxious step back.
"Sora?" Goofy asks, sparing a worried glance his way. Their young companion's obvious shock is more than enough to distract both him and Donald, though neither of them have the slightest idea about where it could be coming from. After all, even though the trio of dogs are quite aggressive and hostile, they're far from any worse than any Heartless or Nobody they've faced before. Which makes Sora's sudden, quite untimely bout of unknown fear quite mysterious and quite concerning indeed.
Still, it's more than enough to cost them all whatever edge they might have had against the dogs as they begin corralling them in the exact opposite direction of where they'd been headed, much to Carl's alarm. "N-no!" he shouts, glancing fretfully up at the house as it's ultimately pulled along with them. "The falls…" He lets out a sigh of bitter disappointment, casting a longing look back towards Paradise Falls, still out of reach as ever and now, with them being pulled away from it against their will, even further out of reach still.
As the now-hostage group is led off to their unknown destination, none of them even think to look towards a tall outcropping of rock in the distance behind them. Upon its peak, a dark corridor opens up and a lone Organization member steps out upon it to watch what's going on from a safe distance. "Their 'master', huh?" Demyx muses with a curious grin, already starting to devise a plan as to how he can use this dramatic turn of events to his advantage. Especially when it comes to pinning down the location of that elusive Key. "This is something I gotta see…"
With no apparent way to fight off or escape from Alpha and his pack, the group has no choice but to let themselves be led away from the rockier landscapes and out towards a northern-bound canyon area instead. Conversation is limited thanks to tight tension the dogs' stern, authoritative manner keeps them all under, yet Donald and Goofy make a hushed attempt at speaking to Sora all the same.
"Sora, what happened back there?" Donald asks in a careful whisper.
"Yeah, why'd ya just freeze up like that?" Goofy adds with a worried frown. "It's not like you…"
"I… don't know," Sora shakes his head, already knowing that he's feeding yet another lie to his companions. But unlike what he'd told them about the scar, he figures this lie is a much more necessary one; after all, neither of them have the slightest idea about the dark damage his Keyblade has apparently sustained. Damage that he desperately doesn't want getting any worse than it already is. "I guess I just-"
He stops short, whatever explanation he might have given falling on dead air as he stares down at his empty hands, noticing something strangely off about his left one. Peeking out just shy of the edge of his glove is a small, dark spot on his palm, one that could easily be missed or overlooked if someone isn't actively looking for it. Confused, Sora makes an attempt at wiping it off with his thumb, initially believing it to be dirt or maybe even an unnoticed bruise. And yet, despite his best efforts to get rid of it, the dark spot still remains, much to his growing alarm. However, what frightens him even more than that is what awaits when he pulls the edge of his glove just a bit, only to find that the shadowy blemish isn't just confined to his palm. Instead, it flushes out from that small focal point, blooming at the front of his wrist to the point that it paints it in a sinister, almost pitch-black shade. Upon this startling discovery, the most Sora can really do is stare at it with wide, worried eyes, trying his hardest to make sense of what it could possibly mean and coming up with no answers to his many questions about it at all. At the same time, as he looks to this pall of darkness clashing with his skin, he can't help but think of his Keyblade, cracked and splintered with similar strands of shadows running across it, or of the scar, deep and damming, torn across his chest in the exact shape of an unmistakable, unshakable sigil. All three are clearly signs of something, that something is happening to him, that something is wrong, that he's in trouble, that he's-
Tainted.
The chilling thought barely even has time to register in Sora's mind before his attention is quickly diverted by his companions' shared concern. "Sora?" Goofy asks, noticing his troubled expression. "Is something wrong?"
"N-no!" Sora answers much too quickly, instantly pulling the edge of his glove up as high as it can go to obscure the darkness beneath it. Briefly, he internally scolds himself for lying to the pair yet again, but given their current circumstances, he's hard pressed to offer any sort of explanation even if he wants to. "No, uh… nothing's wrong. Well, I mean, aside from the whole, being led off to who knows where by a pack of talking dogs thing. S-so I was just trying to come up with a plan to get us out of this whole mess."
"Could ya come up with something a little faster, kid?" Carl asks, overhearing this remark. "I swear, these dogs are multiplying by the minute!"
Sure enough, he isn't wrong, for as they continue closer towards the canyon, it soon becomes apparent that Alpha, his team, and Dug aren't the only canines patrolling the mesas. More canines of all different breeds patrol the area, some of them perched atop the canyon walls while some emerge from the nearby ravine itself. A handful of these dogs join Alpha's pack in escorting the group towards the darkened entrance of the towering canyon, though what awaits within its shadowy depths is just about anyone's guess. Even so, as the dogs grow in numbers, so too do they grow in ferocity, growling and snarling aggressively as they steadily approach the mutually startled group from all sides. For a moment, as they reach the canyon's opening, it almost seems as though a handful of them intend on coming in for a vicious attack, and yet, right before they can…
"Stay!" A sudden voice echoes from within the canyon, and upon its command, every single last dog stops and stands perfectly still. From within the darkness appears the obscured figure of a man, peering out at the group below for a moment before posing an incredulous question, especially as he glances up at the house accompanying them, and the multitude of balloons keeping it afloat. "You came here… in that?"
The others exchange a brief glance, not sure of who this man is or what his intentions are. Which is why Carl is ultimately the one to come up with an equally tentative answer. "Uh… yeah?"
"In a house? A floating house?" The man soon breaks down into a bout of genuine laughter, one that Carl, Russell, and even the trio hesitantly join in on in an attempt at easing themselves out of their current precarious situation. "That is the darndest thing I've ever seen!" the man exclaims, slapping his knee. "You're not after my bird, are you? But if you need to borrow a cup of sugar, I'll be happy to oblige!"
Upon hearing their master's joke, the entire collection of dogs erupts into uproarious laughter, which is all but completely lost on the still quite intimidated group they're surrounding. "What's so funny?" Donald raises a suspicious eyebrow.
"Us, I guess," Goofy says with something of an uneasy chuckle.
"Well, this is all a misunderstanding," the man assures once the dogs quiet down. "My dogs made a mistake." At this, he finally steps into the light to reveal that, much like Carl, he's also an elderly man, though a good bit taller as he leans against his weathered wooden cane. Even so, he hardly seems to be in ill form, as his outfit is adventurous, eyes are bright, and his expression warm and cordial as he smiles at the group gathered before him.
"Wait…" Carl speaks up, his eyes wide with shock as he stares at the man in disbelief. "Are you… Charles Muntz?"
"Well… yes," the man nods, his smile widening a bit.
"The Charles Muntz?"
"'Adventure is out there'!" Muntz quotes with a sly thumbs up and a wink, exciting Carl even more.
"I-its really him!" he exclaims, besides himself with glee as he glances back at the others. "That's Charles Muntz!"
"It is?" Russell asks, initially as enthusiastic as Carl himself was until he looks to the trio in shared confusion. "Who's Charles Muntz?"
Of course, neither Sora, Donald, nor Goofy have the faintest idea as they can only offer the boy a series of shrugs, though all the same, Carl's elation is hardly quelled. "I'm Carl Fredrickson," he readily introduces himself, shaking the adventurer's hand. "My wife and I, we were your biggest fans!"
"Well, you're a man of good taste!" Muntz remarks with a charmed chuckle. "You fellas must be tired. Hungry?"
"Uh huh," Russell nods with a wide smile.
"Yeah!" Sora agrees just as eagerly.
"Didn't we already talk about getting distracted?" Donald scolds, crossing his arms.
"Aw, c'mon, we deserve just a little break, don't we?" Sora counters with a pleading smile.
"But what about that Demyx fella?" Goofy asks. "Shouldn't we be worried about him finding the Key before us?"
"That guy?" Sora scoffs, unconcerned. "Yeah, right. He'll be lucky if he can find his way outta the jungle, much less to any of the Keys."
"Hm… If you say so…" Donald notes, still somewhat doubtful.
"Attention, everyone!" Muntz calls, addressing his entire pack of canines. "These people are no longer intruders. They are our guests." The once-hostile dogs let out a round of heaty cheers at this, this time swarming the group with bright excitement rather than cold ferocity as the adventurer beckons them into the canyon. Or rather, to the massive dirigible docked inside of it.
"No way…" Sora gasps, amazed by the impressive airship. "First we had flying houses, then talking dogs, and now a blimp? This world's got it all!"
"What was that, my boy?" Muntz asks, casting a casual glance over his shoulder.
"Uh, n-nothing!" Sora quickly plays the matter off, especially upon catching a critical glance from Donald, silently reminding him to maintain the world order.
Fortunately, Muntz doesn't press the matter any further as he lets out another small, amused chuckle. "Well, I hope my dogs didn't cause you folks too much trouble. You can go ahead and park your 'airship' next to mine."
Carl readily does so, securely tying his house up to the same pylon keeping Muntz' dirigible weighed down. "We're not actually going inside the 'Spirit of Adventure' itself, are we?" he asks, still absolutely dumbfounded with meeting his longtime idol, much less seeing his famous airship.
"Oh, would you like to?" Muntz asks with a knowing grin as he begins to lead the way up the gangplank.
"Would I?!" Carl exclaims, delighted by the invitation as he rushes after the adventurer, Russell following not too far behind him. The trio likewise trails after them, all rather amused by just how overjoyed Carl seems to be over this fortuitous turn of events.
"Gawrash, Carl sure is excited about meetin' Mr. Muntz," Goofy notes with a good-natured grin.
"Yeah," Sora agrees, crossing his arms. "You know, if Carl trusts him that much right off the bat, then that means that we can trust him too. Hey, maybe he might even be able to help us find that Key!"
"Hm… I don't know…" Donald frowns, shaking his head. "Seems like a longshot to me."
"But it's a shot all the same," Sora points out with a sly grin. "Which means it's one worth taking."
"Wha—that's not what I meant!" the magician counts with an annoyed scowl. Still, he doesn't have much of a chance to argue any further as Sora already hurries on ahead into the airship, clearly confident in this course of action as he leaves any lingering worries of the darkness on his hands behind him for now. Donald lets out a frustrated huff, not sharing in Goofy's small chuckle over Sora's usual brazenness, but even so, they follow his lead, hoping that his intuition will end up leading them to the missing Key after all.
If the Spirit of Adventure is impressive on the outside, its interior is even more of a grand sight to see. Its central chamber is akin to a large, elegant museum, a treasure trove of various prizes Muntz has claimed on expeditions past, from giant fossils, to stuffed creatures, to rare artifacts from all around the world. The adventurer is more than happy to show them off to his guests, who—Carl in particular—are just as eager to hear all about the daring tales of risk and reward behind them.
"Ah yes, the Arsinoitherium," Muntz recalls as they pass by a towering skeleton. "Beast charged while I was brushing my teeth. Used my shaving kit to bring him down. Only way I could get it back home at the time was to have it declared as 'dental equipment'!"
Muntz and Carl both share a good laugh over this anecdote before the latter spots another one of the adventurer's most famous trophies. "Oh my gosh! Is that the Giant Somalian Leopard Tortoise?!"
"Oh, you recognize it?" Muntz grins up at the giant shell. "I'm impressed! That's an interesting story there…"
"Uh, hey, Mr. Muntz?" Sora interjects, raising his hand. "Sorry to interrupt, but you know Paradise Falls pretty well, don't you?"
"Well, I have been down here for the past few decades straight," Muntz remarks. "So yes, I'd say I'm more than acquainted with the area by now. Why do you ask?"
"Well, we were just wondering," Sora begins, motioning to himself and his companions. "If you knew where we might be able to find a special sort of Key around here? Something that looks like this?" At this, Sora summons the first Key they'd found, still just as vibrantly shimmering and radiating with its unique sort of power and majesty that it had from the moment it first appeared in his hand. Muntz is clearly taken aback by it, looking over the blade with immense fascination and even slight awe.
"My, that's quite a key indeed!" the adventurer exclaims, though his amazement soon fades as he shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid you boys might have come to the wrong place if you're in search of something like that. Not much in the way of any Keys out in the jungle; in fact, the only thing that's of any worth out there is-"
"Master," Alpha's unexpected arrival abruptly cuts through the conversation, his pitchy voice still mismatching his intimidating appearance. "Dinner is ready."
"Oh dear, broken translator," Muntz bends over to fix the collar. "It's that loose wire again. Anyway, there ya go, big fellla."
"Thank you, master," Alpha says, his voice much darker and deeper now with his collar corrected.
"I-I liked his other voice better," Russell flinches, cowering behind Carl.
"Well, dinner is served!" Muntz proclaims, leading the way down the hall. "Right this way."
Much like the museum before it, the airship's dining room carries just as much sophisticated class and homages to Muntz' prior explorations. The adventurer continues to regale his guests with amiable small talk as his dogs serve up their surprisingly upscale dinner (save for Russell, who's more than content to receive a simple hot dog, even if the accompanying canines snatch it off his plate when he isn't looking). At the same time, Carl still makes no effort to hide just how enthralled he is by both the tour and the accommodations Muntz has offered them, knowing that a meeting such as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"Ah, Ellie would have loved all this," he sighs wistfully, briefly nodding to his house tethered up outside the window. "You know, it's because of you she had this dream to come down here and live by Paradise Falls."
"I'm honored," Muntz smiles earnestly. "And now you've made it!"
"You sure we're not a bother? I'd hate to impose."
"No, no! It's a real pleasure to have guests, a real treat-" Muntz is immediately cut off by a chorus of excited barks from every single dog in the room, each of them loudly calling and clamoring over each other for the purposed 'treat'. "No, quiet!" the adventurer shouts over the din. "Calm down! Shouldn't have used that word… Having guests is a delight!" he snaps, finally calming the canines down. "More often I get thieves, coming to steal what's rightfully mine…"
"No!" Carl exclaims, aghast.
"Golly, what are they tryin' to steal from you, Mr. Muntz?" Goofy asks with a concerned frown.
However, Muntz doesn't answer right away, standing up from the table as he turns towards the back of the room, his usually pleasant tone taking on a darker edge. "They called me a fraud, those… gah!" he scoffs bitterly, lifting his lantern a bit. "But once I bring back this creature, my name will be cleared." By the dim light of the lantern, a massive collection of photographs, drawings, maps, feathers, and every pieces of evidence in between is illuminated, each of them pointing towards the centerpiece of it all: a long, lanky skeleton, clearly a bird, and an all-too familiar one at that.
"Hey," Sora speaks up to his companions in a bewildered whisper as he looks over the fossil. "Isn't that…?"
"Shh!" Donald quickly quiets him, already sensing the adventurer's changing manner. Goofy does the same, leaning over to hurriedly cover Sora's mouth before he can speak too soon. Fortunately though, Muntz doesn't notice any of this, as lost in his longtime obsession as he is.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asks, hardly talking to any of the others now as he both admires and loathes the skeleton before him. "I've spent a lifetime tracking it. Sometimes years go by between sightings. I've tried to smoke it out of that deadly labyrinth where it lives. Can't go after it. Once in, there's no way out. Lost so many dogs that way…"
By now, Carl's caught on to what Donald and Goofy already have, and much like them, his alarm and dread steadily begins to grow as Muntz does on, long, dark shadows cast against his face as he speaks quietly, yet coldly. "And here they come, these bandits, and think the bird is theirs to take! But soon they find that this mountain is a very dangerous place…"
"Hey!" Russell quickly breaks the growing tension filling the room as he finally glances up at the skeleton for himself, innocently proclaiming what Sora almost had earlier. Though this time, no one thinks to stop him. "That looks like Kevin!"
"…Kevin?" Muntz asks, confused.
"Yeah! That's my new giant bird pet," Russell explains blithely, not noticing the panicked looks the others all send his way. "I trained him to follow us."
"Follow you?" Muntz scoffs, incredulous. "Impossible. How?"
"She likes chocolate," Russell holds up what's left of his chocolate bar to show the adventurer. "I gave her some of it and she goes ga-ga for it. She also likes playing with Sora's phone!"
"Uh, w-well…" Sora begins rather awkwardly, looking to his companions for any aid they might be able to give in getting them out of this newfound tight spot. "I don't-"
"B-but it ran off!" Carl fortunately interjects instead, stopping both boys before they can say anything else to incriminate them. "It's gone."
For what seems like ages, Muntz says nothing to this, his eyes narrowing at the group sitting before him before he puts on a small, clearly fake smile. "You know, Carl," he says, his tone much too casual as he paces over to a table filled with abandoned aviator's helmets. "These people who come through here, they all tell pretty good stories: a 'surveyor' making a map…" Muntz uses his cane to push one of the hats off of the table, clearly unconcerned as it falls to the floor with a dull, echoing thud. "A 'botanist' cataloguing plants… An old man taking his house to Paradise Falls and his friends looking for some sort of magical 'Key'…" The adventurer drops one final helmet to the ground, his expression icy as he practically stares right through the entire group. "That's the best one yet. I can't wait to hear how it ends…"
Needless to say that none of the others have the slightest idea of what to do when countered with such bold accusations. Of course, none of them have any intentions of competing against Muntz to get a hold of the bird; if anything, they all share a mutual desire to protect Kevin, especially since it seems as though whatever fate the adventurer has in mind for her is quite grim indeed. Yet, while Carl tries to desperately come up with some excuse to give to play everything off, he happens to nervously steal a glance outside the nearby window. And as soon as does, he spots the very last thing he could have hoped to see, still perched comfortably on top of the roof of his own house, just as she had been before: Kevin.
"Well!" Carl abruptly exclaims with a wide, forced smile as he pulls away from the table. "It's been a wonderful evening, b-but we'd better be going."
"Oh, you're leaving?" Muntz remarks, making no apparent attempt at stopping them as he continues playing just as coy as Carl.
"Uh, y-yeah!" Sora agrees, exchanging a brief, terse nod with Carl. "We've gotta go find that Key, get the house to the falls, it's a whole thing, so…"
"Yeah, what he said," Carl agrees quickly, grabbing Russell by the arm to pull him to his feet. "Come on, Russell."
"But we haven't even had dessert yet," the Wilderness Explorer frowns, still not catching on to what's really going on.
"Oh, the boy's right," Muntz nods, his smile growing sharper as he slowly approaches the group when they begin to make their slow retreat out of the room. "You really must stay, I insist! We have so much more to talk about…"
Carl nearly offers the adventurer another hasty excuse, and yet right before he can, everything instantly falls apart all at once upon one single, loud, echoing squawk. One that, without a doubt, comes from the very bird they're all trying their very best to hide.
"Kevin?" Russell asks, peering out the window in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the tagalong creature.
Likewise, Muntz looks out the window too, stunned to finally see the bird for himself, colorful feathers and tall, towering form proudly sitting squarely on the roof of Carl's house. The house that's currently parked only feet away from his very own airship. "It's here…" he whispers in awed disbelief, his long-awaited prize in sight but still out of reach. Though it won't be for long, if he has anything to do with it.
Quickly, Muntz turns back to his 'guests' only to find that they've taken advantage of the distraction Kevin has provided them with to make a hasty getaway. For sure enough, all five of them are gone, rushing out of the airship to get back out to the house as quickly as they can, all in an attempt at escaping the adventurer's obsessive wrath.
"Get them!" Muntz commands his army of dogs, all of whom obediently comply and rush off after the fleeing group. "Don't let them or that bird get away!"
"So… you're after that bird, huh, old timer?" The adventurer flinches, startled by the arrival of this sudden voice in wake of all of his dogs taking off. Already on edge, Muntz spins around, gripping his cane tightly as he notices a darkened portal opening up in the far corner of the room. And out of that portal steps none other than Demyx, a smug, daring smirk on his face as he comes up with what he believes to be the perfect plan to get his hands on the Key before Sora and his friends can even come close. "I might be able to help you out with that… for the right price …"
Ohohoh some interesting lead up into the next chapter, huh? To be honest, I was a little intimidated by tackling my first original Disney world in this story, but if there was any good one to start on I'd say it was Up. Carl and Russell are both a lot of fun to write, heck, even Muntz is too so that'll make the next chapter a lot of fun as well (though maybe just a bit... higher stakes hahaha) Anyway, if ya liked what ya see, please feel free to leave a REVIEW! Until next time!
