The Gummi ship hangar outside of Traverse Town was surprisingly quiet today. Normally there would be at least a few ships coming in with supplies or refugees, but today the hanger stood empty and silent. The silence was broken by the sound of an engine growing steadily louder as something approached. A red and yellow Gummi ship drifted into the hangar and gently docked in an empty bay, its hatch opened accompanied by an automated voice.
"Autopilot to Traverse Town completed. Please take care when exiting the craft" as the hatch fully opened Pluto leapt out from the ship. After a few curious sniffs of the surrounding area he noticed the gateway leading into Traverse Town, barking happily as he bounded towards the gates he found that they were slightly ajar. Poking his nose through he caught the faint scent of something familiar, like something belonging to his master.
Squeezing through the gap he began to sniff out the source, he was so focused on the smell that he ended up walking into a metal tree.
Hearing a pained yelp caused Nate to look down, by his feet was a strange looking dog with yellow fur. It shook its head before looking up to see what it had walked into. Nate couldn't help the warm smile that came to his face, he'd always had a soft spot for dogs. Moving slow so as not to startle it, he crouched down to make sure it was alright.
"Hey boy, you ok? You need to be more careful." reaching out he gave it a gentle pat on the head which, considering he was wearing a suit of T60 power armour, took a bit of effort. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the girl, Ciri wasn't it?, watching him with a small smile of her own. He considered asking her if she wanted to have a pet when the dog suddenly perked up, sniffing at the air before taking off up the steps and towards a small alleyway behind what he guessed was a store.
Shrugging to himself he decided to follow and make sure the dog was ok, partially because of said soft spot for dogs and partly to avoid having to think about how he'd lost his home for the second time. Shaking those thoughts away before they could take root he began to follow. He noticed Ciri also began to follow, giving the alley the dog entered a curious look.
The pair quickly caught up and immediately Nate felt himself go cold. Against the wall, behind some crates was a young boy. Moving quickly Nate knelt down next to the boy and, thankfully, saw that he was breathing and didn't have any obvious injuries. Beside him he noticed Ciri also kneel down and after giving the boy a quick once over of her own, turned her attention towards the oversized key the boy was holding. Turning his own attention back to the boy he tried to gently wake him.
"Come on kid, time to wake up. That's it nice and easy" he carefully helped the boy stand and watched as he began to fully notice his surroundings.
"This…this isn't the island, where…" A look of panic appeared on his face as he began to desperately look around "Wait what happened to that monster? Riku? Kairi?!" seeing him begin to panic Nate carefully placed him hand on the boy's shoulder to get his attention.
"Hey kid, look at me ok? Take a breath and relax, you're safe for now" putting on his best fatherly smile, he watched as the boy began to get his breathing under control before looking back up at him.
"Who…who are you and…where am I?" he asked finally. Ciri was the one who answered "You're in a place called Traverse Town. It's some kind of…refugee world from what we've been told. My name is Ciri and the wall of steel over there is called Nate" her joke had the desired effect of making the boy smile, which caused Nate to smile too. Must be his fatherly instincts as Piper would say.
"Ciri and Nate? Right well I'm Sora" he said before looking down at the large key "So this thing came too?" he muttered, before shaking his head "Anyway you said this is a refugee world right? Then…I'm on another world!" The sudden realisation seemed to perk the boy up. Nate watched as Sora raced out of the alley and followed him along with Ciri.
As he exited the alley Sora couldn't help but stare in amazement. In front of him was a large plaza area with a pair of giant wooden gates at the far side, with shops lining the walls to his right.
"No way, this is really another world" he thought, torn between his glee at seeing a new world and the sadness over the loss of his own. The sound of heavy footsteps behind him caused him to look back, Nate was now wearing a helmet that matched his armour (which looked so cool he thought) and was watching him alongside Ciri. Remembering what they said he felt guilty about feeling so excited.
"If you're here then does that mean..you've lost your world too?" he asked quietly, he'd never been very good with serious conversations and winced internally as Ciri's face dropped.
"Yes. After those Shadow creatures attacked we found ourselves here" she said sadly "I don't know if anyone else made it. Everything feels like it's happening so fast"
Taking a moment to think Sora gripped the Keyblade tightly and met their eyes, a look of determination on his face. "Well then let's start looking" seeing her surprised face and noticing Nate's helmet tilt inquisitively he continued "We made it here right? So..maybe our friends ended up somewhere else on this world"
Ciri stared at him with undisguised shock before letting out a small laugh. "You're right, there's no point just standing around here feeling sorry for ourselves" Turning to face her fellow survivors she smiled "So where should we start?"
Sora smiled right back as Nate turned to the building behind them. "Let's start here, maybe they tried to ask for directions at the stores"
The trio entered the store revealing a cosy looking shop, a fireplace sat on the right while the counter was set in the top left. Behind the counter there was a blonde haired man with a pair of goggles on his head chewing on a toothpick, hearing the door open he looked up from what he was doing.
"Well now what's this? Are you folks looking to buy or are you here to sell?" the man asked, Sora quickly approached the counter with Cirir while Nate hung back, not wanting to risk walking into the display case in the middle of the room.
"Hey gramps we were wondering if you'd seen our friends" Sora said, earning a chuckle from Ciri and an annoyed grunt from the man.
"Don't call me 'gramps' kid. The name's Cid" he replied "Now what's this about your friends?"
"I'm not 'kid', my name's Sora! And this is Ciri and Nate. I'm looking for my friends, Riku and Kairi" turning to Ciri he motioned for her to take over. "I'm looking for a man named Geralt, he has white hair, yellow eyes and carries two swords"
Nate chimed in next "There's quite a few people I'm looking for, honestly it might be easier if you just keep an ear out for anyone asking for me"
Cid hummed in thought before letting out a sigh. "Can't say I've met anyone with those names, and no one has asked after you. Sorry ki-Sora"
Just as Sora slumped forward dejectedly Cid continued "But hey just cause they ain't been in here doesn't mean they aren't in town somewhere. Take a walk through the other districts, and if you run into trouble feel free to hide out here"
"We will and thank you" Ciri said before following the others out.
Waiting a few moments to make sure they were gone, Cid pulled a small radio like device from under the counter.
"Hey Leon, it's Cid. Yeah, I just had some new arrivals and you're not gonna believe what one of them is carrying around…"
Jaune had to admit that things could be worse. I mean sure he was lost in what might be another Kingdom, his friends were nowhere in sight and there were more of those strange Grimm lurking around, but at least he wasn't alone! Turning to his current companion he noticed she was humming a cheerful sounding tune as she walked beside him.
Sophie was a strange one, and he found himself reminded of Penny for some reason. Still she wasn't hostile and had offered to help him find his friends while she searched for hers. Though he privately thought their names were a little odd, "Seriously who calls their kid Skull? They have to be nicknames" he thought. He was so caught up in his thoughts he almost walked into Sophie when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Whoa, Sophie you alright?"
"Someone is in trouble" she stated seriously, her head snapping to the right "This way!" not giving him time to reply she took off with surprising speed. "Hey wait up!" Jaune yelled, drawing his sword as he ran after her. After a short chase Jaune caught up with his mysterious new friend as she engaged a new set of enemies alongside more of the shadows. These new Grimm appeared humanoid, with sharp claws answer wearing what appeared to be knight's armour.
"What is going on?" he thought, cleaving one of the knights in half with a swing of his sword before raising his shield to block a spinning kick from another "I'm starting to think these things aren't Grimm after all". While he battled his own enemies Sophie darted through the swarm of shadows, her Yo-Yos (honestly he's seen stanger weapons) lashing out and clearing away any shadows in her path.
The fight soon turned against them as more and more shadows seemed to spawn to replace the ones they defeated. "They just keep coming,if we're going to help whoever you saw we need a plan" he yelled, stabbing a shadow that got too close. "Oh I have an idea" Sophie replied, her visor shifting to 'happy' eyes. Leaping away from an attack she reached for her visor and removed it revealing a young looking face "Pandora" with that a spectral figure appeared behind her in a flash of blue flame.
The figure resembled a woman in (very) revealing clothing, with four sheets of metal hovering around her neck and (strangely) a box covering the peer half of her head. Jaune started half in shock and half embarrassment as the figure aimed its open hands towards the approaching shadows "Kouga!" Sophie said as a burst of light struck the horde, vaporising a good portion of it and sending the rest slinking back into the floor as they retreated.
"What was that?" Jaune asked , watching as the figure faded away into the same blue flames as Sophie's visor returned. "Pandora, my persona. I was worried I wouldn't be able to summon it as we are not in a Jail." she explained as Jaune just found himself more confused.
"Persona? Is that your semblance?" he asked, this time Sophie was the one confused. "I'm sorry but I do not know what a 'semblance' is"
Before he could say anything else a new voice spoke up. "Excuse me but I might be able to explain what's going on"
As Jaune and Sophie turned to face the speaker, Jaune idly realised this must have been the person Sophie sensed in danger. She was a pretty young woman, wearing a pink dress, with her braided hair held up by a bow. She smiled kindly at them and said "My name is Aerith, and I'm afraid you're a lot further from home than you think.
