Heartbinding

Chapter 3

"Do you really think I've learned enough to be a Keyblade Master... Master?" Kishi asked as he helped Oswald up from their sparring session. The anthropomorphic rabbit laughed in a condescending manner.

"Pfft. Of course not, kid. I meant you were ready to start accepting missions on other worlds as part of your training." He explained as he made his keyblade vanish.

"Wait, really? I can start going out to see other worlds and helping people?" Kishi wondered, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Okay okay, calm down, boy. Yes, we'll probably start checking up on other worlds soon. But you'll be tagging along with me on patrols to start out with. For now, we'll celebrate your advancement tonight. And tomorrow we'll start looking at worlds that need help."

"Oh thank you Master!" Kishi exclaimed as he picked up his mentor in a giant bear hug. Oswald did not take this well.

"No! No hugs! Put me down now, young man!"

That night, after a dinner honoring Kishi's pseudo-graduation, the occupants of the house retired to their rooms for the evening. The young keyblade wielder entered his familiar quarters and noticed a small wrapped parcel on his bed with a note next to it. He sat on his bed and unwrapped the box with one hand while unfolding the note to read with his other.

Kid, no...Kishi

I know I've been hard on ya these past few months, but I promise it was all to make you strong enough to deal with the outside. I've never really had a protege before, but I can safely say that I'm proud of the progress you've made in the short time I've known you. I asked Ortensia to work on this gift for you in secret. If you're gonna represent my school of Keyblade fighting, you should at least look the part. The suit has a bunch of special enchantments on it that the missus and I made special for ya. It has an extra coat of protection against magical attacks and darkness. It has some other tricks up its sleeve, literally, that I'll tell you about as we go. Here's to our new adventure.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Kishi whiped the tears forming in his eyes as he opened the box to see his new uniform. The main garb was a black short sleeved jacket with blue trim highlighting most of the seems. It had a hood and the shoulders had straps running along them for some reason. The undershirt was a plain black tank top with white trim and a blue outline of Oswald's head on the chest, much like the charm on his master's keyblade. There were also a pair of black cargo shorts that seemed to run halfway down his shins. There didn't seem to be any shoes included in the package, so Kishi assumed his boots would suffice. Lastly were a pair of fingerless gloves that had a blue strap running along the middle of each.

'I'll look forward to sporting these first thing in the morning.' he thought as he hung all his new gear up for tomorrow.

Kishi was back in the forest behind the house. The pale white misty fog was rolling all over the landscape, making all the trees appear darker than they actually were. The twigs and leaves crunching under his feet with every step seemed to have amplified in sound. In the distance was the hooded figure he remembered seeing in his dream before. Frustrated, he approached the hooded person.

"Alright buddy, what's the big idea?"

The figure turned around and Kishi let out a silent gasp of terror. It was Cleric, his skin pale white and paper thin. In place of his eyes were black pools of swirling darkness.

"You. let. me. die." Cleric's voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Suddenly Cleric reached a bony hand out and grabbed Kishi by the throat, choke slamming him down to the ground. He tried to pry the hand off his neck, but his strength was quickly leaving him.

"I tried to save you!" He managed to choke out with what little breath he had left.

"YOU. LET. ME. DIIIIEEEEE!" Cleric yelled as smoky black water poured out of his eyes and mouth, smothering the face of his young successor.

"AGH!" Kishi screamed as he woke up. He wasn't sure if the nightmare he experienced was telling of anything to come, or just a result of the stress he had experienced before. Looking out his window he saw it looked about an hour before the sun would rise over the treeline.

'Too late to go back to sleep. Might as well get ready.' he thought as he yawned and stretched his way out of bed. He did his usual morning routine of cleaning up before donning his new suit. The whole ensemble fit him perfectly with enough room to do all his combat tricks. Looking in the bathroom mirror, he really admired how the whole outfit looked.

'Who'da thunk Master would have an eye for aesthetics? Maybe Ms. Ortensia designed it. Wait, how did they know my exact measurements? Should I be concerned about that?' He decided to shrug it off and head downstairs, hoping to maybe help Ortensia get a headstart on breakfast.

As he rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs, he saw Ortensia at the kitchen table, except she wasn't her normal cheery self. She was face down at the table quietly sobbing, and she seemed to be clutching a piece of parchment.

"Ms. Ortensia! What's wrong?" Kishi asked as he rushed into the kitchen. The black cat looked up from her spot at the table, her eyes completely wrought with tears.

"Oh Kishi, I'm so worried. It's awful. When I woke up this morning, Ozzy was gone, and all I found was this note." She said, holding up the piece of paper.

"May I?" Kishi asked, motioning towards the letter. Ortensia complied and he read through the message.

Ortensia,

Something serious has come up, and it looks like I'm gonna be going away for a while. There are forces at work that require my intervention. Unfortunately, this means I'm gonna have to postpone that training trip with the kid. Please tell him the truth when he wakes up, he deserves to know. I saw way too many stars going out last night for it to be a coincidence. I'm going to Radiant Garden to try and recruit some Masters and get to the bottom of this. As soon as you and the kid get this news, I want him to escort you to old man Sid's place. You two'll be safe there if you just explain the situation. Kishi, if you're reading this, I'm sorry it's come to this. Please continue your training as best as you can until I get back. I promise I'll make it up to you two.

Oswald

"Why would he not tell us last night?" Kishi asked, finishing the note and leaving it on the table.

"I don't know, Kishi. But I'm guessing he didn't want me to talk him out of it, or you to go with him."

"So, what happens now? Do we go to this Sid guy? Do you know the way?"

"Yes, he wouldn't tell us to go to Master Yen Sid unless it was a real emergency. I'll go pack some of my things. I suggest you do the same." Ortensia said as she got up and headed upstairs. Kishi was still trying to process this. Just as he was making headway with his training, his master just decides to up and leave without a word. But still, he should listen to Ms. Ortensia. He went upstairs and packed his stuff into his old rucksack. Thankfully he still didn't have much apart from his new outfit.

Since Ortensia would probably take longer to pack than him, Kishi decided to take the extra time to make breakfast for the two of them. He finished up a big stack of pancakes as she came downstairs with a sizable suitcase. The black cat still had a look of worry and despair on her face, but she wasn't crying anymore at the very least.

"I figured we could load up before we set off for this place, Ms. Ortensia."

"Oh that's very sweet of you, Kishi. Normally I'd take the time to appreciate the gesture, but we should really hurry with these." she said as she grabbed a fork and took several tiny bites at lightning fast speed. Kishi got the hint and started scarfing his stack down in giant bites.

The two locked up the house and left as soon as they could. Kishi tried to be polite by carrying Ortensia's bag.

"It's a long walk back to town, Ms. Ortensia. I can carry you if need be."

"I'm quite capable of walking myself, Kishi." she replied in an offended tone. There was a brief pause before she sighed and recollected herself, "I'm sorry, sugar. I know you want to help, but I'm just so worried. I don't know what's going on."

"That's how I've felt these past few months, ma'am."

The two of them continued on across the wide meadow for a few hours before reaching the backside of the old mansion. Kishi felt his heart in his throat as he made his way back through the old house and out the front door, remembering the brick pillar where his whole journey started, and his predecessor's ended. He did his best not to show his emotions welling up in front of Ortensia. They pressed on back down the hill into the forest right outside Twilight Town, the walls of the city in plain sight. Suddenly, they heard a yell for help. Kishi gave the bags to Ortensia so he could call out Starlight and investigate.

Near the entrance to the sewers was a pack of Heartless. These ones were new however, more looking like monkeys and acting like them too. They were jumping around and harrassing a young man who appeared to be in his late teens. He had spiky crimson hair, he wore a tight fitting black shirt, and had a white bandana wrapped around his wrist. He held a black knife that he swung carelessly at the Heartless keeping them at bay, but just barely. Behind him was a small cardboard box that he seemed to be protecting.

"Hey! Need some help?" Kishi called out as he ran to join the fray.

"Yeah, I'd really appreciate it." the guy replied.

Kishi brought his keyblade out and ran through one of the Heartless with one quick motion. He then turned around and cast fire on another nearby creature. The monster disappeared, leaving smoldering embers on the grass.

'I gotta deal with these guys quick. We're still in a hurry and this guy needs to get back to town.' he thought. He decided to use his Focus energy to target the remaining monkey Heartless and unleashed his fire volley attack. It managed to kill quite a few, and the ones that didn't die ran away in fear into the trees. Kishi fell to one knee from expending that much energy in such a quick motion.

"Hey, thanks a million, guy. You really saved my bacon." the red haired man said, offering his hand to help Kishi up.

"No problem, it's my job. But you should get back to town. It's not safe out here. What were you even doing?"

"I was collecting some important components." the man replied, picking up the cardboard box he was so protective of. He opened up the box to show Kishi, and the keyblade wielder was rather unimpressed.

"Fruit?...You risked your life protecting fruit?"

"Haha, yeah. I guess it was pretty dumb of me." he replied casually.

"Look, just get back to town. I have work to do." Kishi said, rubbing his temple in annoyance.

"Can do. The name's Soma Yukihira by the way. Hope to see you back in town."

"Kishi Hikari, likewise."

With a nod, Soma walked down into the sewer entrance to get back to Twilight Town. Just as he left, Ortensia managed to catch up while dragging her suitcase.

"What was that young man doing here? Someone you know?"

"No ma'am, just some guy. Let's keep moving. Where did we need to go again?" Kishi asked as he took her bag again.

"We're going to the train station, there should be a train that no one else can see. That'll be the one to take us to Master Yen Sid."

"Alright, let's get going. I know a shortcut."

It was a strange feeling for Kishi to come back into the Twilight Town marketplace. The whole place seemed to recover nicely from the Heartless invasion months back. It was all so familiar yet it felt so alien, having been away for so long. He made sure to take Ms. Ortensia up the most direct route to the train station, while also doing his best to avoid running into people that might recognize him. He didn't wanna get caught up in conversation at the moment.

It had been a few years since Kishi had actually used the train station. Last time he took the train to the beach over summer break to work a food stand there, but that was over two years ago. Now it seemed like it was mainly a spot for people doing their daily commute to work. What was really odd was the one train car that clearly stuck out among the others. It was a deep blue train car decorated with stars and crescent moons. It also had a similarly decorated cone on the smokestack that looked like a wizard's hat.

"I take it this is the one we're taking?" Kishi whispered to Ortensia.

"I believe so, let's hurry and get on."

The two got onto the train and sat at two of the seats, not really sure which ones to pick. With a BING-BONG sound the train made a sudden lurch and started moving out of the station. The landscape and scenery rolled across the windows and Kishi took the time to drink in the sites of his former home. It truly was a thing of beauty during the sunset hours. Just as he was getting used to it, the train seemed to pass through some magic portal, as the outside now appeared to be a strange mystical void of swirling colors and sparkles.

"I'm sorry so much of this is forced on you all at once." Ortensia said, not looking up from her seat. Kishi sighed and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm kinda used to quick changes at this point. And cause of you and Master Oswald, I feel like I have an actual purpose now. It was definitely a rough time training, but it certainly wasn't boring like my life was before." Ortensia looked up with a sad smile on her face.

After another hour, there was another flash of light outside the window and the train stopped at its destination. It was an island floating in the void of space, hardly anything resting on the land mass. The only thing on the island appeared to be an enormous crooked tower. The tower had two spires branching off of it, and all three points of the tower were decorated to look like the same wizard's hat that was on the train.

"I guess this is the end of the line." Kishi said as he and Ortensia stepped off the train.

The air around the tower conveyed "mystery" in every sense of the word. Kishi's hairs stood on end as he approached the front door of the tower. At the massive front door, he noticed that there weren't any handles or knobs, or even a knocker. He shrugged and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Is Master Yen Sid in? We were told to come here." He called out to no one in particular.

Slowly the front door opened up on its own. Kishi looked towards Ortensia who gave him a reassuring nod. Inside the tower was a circular room with a spiral staircase that wrapped up the wall for only about a story before disappearing into a shimmering portal.

"Should we... wait for someone?" Kishi asked.

"I think we should just go upstairs. From what Ozzy told me, if we weren't allowed in we wouldn't have made it this far."

The two walked upstairs into the portal. A flash of light later and they were standing in some sort of study. The room was circular with small bookshelves around the walls. The large moon shaped window showed that they were now at the top of the tower. In the center of the room was a large oak desk, with an open book and writing quill. Sitting at the desk was an old man. He wore a bright blue robe with a matching conical hat with the same design that adorned the tower. He had an extremely stern face and piercing eyes. He also sported a long gray beard. Kishi was about to speak when he saw Ortensia give a low bow to the man, so he decided to follow suit.

"Master Yen Sid. It's been so long." she said without looking up.

"That's quite alright Ortensia. I only wish we would meet again under better circumstances." The man replied in a booming deep voice. The two got back up to standing height.

"It's an honor to meet you, Master Yen Sid. You don't know me, but my name is Kishi Hikari."

"Oh I know you quite well, young Hikari. Oswald spoke most highly of you when he was here."

This made both Kishi and Ortensia perk up their ears, "You've seen Ozzy?" "Do you know where he is now, sir?" Yen Sid quietly shook his head, "I'm afraid not. He set off to investigate the mobilizing Heartless, but he would not say where specifically." This made the pair look crestfallen.

"So, what happens now, Master?" Kishi asked.

"I will provide protection and lodging to you and Ms. Ortensia while Oswald and my students converge on the forces of darkness."

"We thank you for your hospitality, Master Yen Sid." Ortensia said with a gracious bow. Kishi, however, looked at the floor with concern on his face.

"Is something wrong, young Hikari?" the elder asked.

"I'm sorry, sir. I appreciate you taking us in. But...my master is out there fighting on his own. He trained me for this kinda situation. I can't sit by and just wait for him to come back. He said I was ready to go out there and fight Heartless myself, and that's what I plan to do. I just wanted to make sure Ms. Ortensia was safe before I left."

"Kishi, you can't..." Ortensia started.

"If I don't go out and help, then how can I call myself a Keyblade wielder? What if something happens to Master Oswald while we're here? What if I'm able to stop it? I can't let another master die on my watch."

The three stood in silence for a few moments. That is until Yen Sid let out a small sigh, "Even if it was a good idea, you would have no way to leave this world without a vessel. I'm afraid the best you can do is finish your training here."

'Damn, he's right.' Kishi thought. There was no way to go out and find Oswald. But every moment that he stood around was a moment that something could happen to his master. 'C'mon think dammit. There's gotta be some way to get out of here.' He pondered. Then, it hit him.

"What if I can find my own vessel?"

"You know where to procure one?" Yen Sid asked.

"I know someone who might. But if I can find one, I can go look for Master Oswald myself."

Yen Sid chuckled to himself, "You remind me so much of my own students. If you truly can find a means to explore worlds of your own accord, it's out of my hands to stop you."

Ortensia had a majorly worried look on her face, "But Master..."

"Don't worry Ms. Ortensia." Kishi said, grabbing both of her hands, "I'll find Master Oswald, we'll fight this together, and come straight home. I promise."

"I...I...okay. Please be careful, sugar. I can't stand to lose you both." she relented and hugged her husband's student. He returned the hug in kind, wanting to provide some reassurance that the mission would be successful.

"Before you go running off, boy. I must give you some information." Yen Sid interrupted.

"What information, sir?"

"The garments you wear are no ordinary combat clothes. I can sense a powerful enchantment on them."

"Yeah, the note Master left said it can protect me from darkness and magic."

Yen Sid shook his head, "Beyond that, there is something much more powerful woven into the fabrics. It seems to activate when your heart resonates with someone close to you, like Ms. Ortensia. It seems that this link could prove to be something quite powerful."

"So, what? I should keep the people I care about close?"

"I don't know the specifics of the enchantment. Only that it should grant you new abilities by fighting alongside those you share your heart with."

"So, if I fight with friends on my side I'll learn cool new tricks. Sounds pretty cool."

"Kishi Hikari, this journey you're about to undertake will be one full of grave peril. For every powerful ally, there will be tenfold the number of enemies. But I trust in Oswald's teachings, and in your own strength. The greatest weapon of all will always be your heart. Listen to it, and it will never lead you astray. I have no doubts that you will do both of your Masters proud."

The keyblade wielder gave a bow of respect, "Thank you, Master Yen Sid. I won't let you down."

"May your heart be your guiding key."

With one last hug, Kishi left the study and exited the Mysterious Tower. Luckily the train was still sitting outside waiting for him. He got on board and, just like before, it started moving after a minute and headed back through another shimmering portal.

Back in Twilight Town, he knew where he should go. Back downhill to the marketplace, he found his old workplace, the Bistro, where a familiar face greeted him outside.

"Ay! Kishi, mah lad! So it was you that saved me chef!" Mr. McDuck exclaimed as he patted the young man on the back.

"It's good to see you again, Mr. McDuck, but what do you mean by a chef?"

Just then, Soma came out of the front door of the bistro carrying a tray of food. Kishi was smart enough to put two and two together.

"Ooooh, that's why you needed that fruit earlier."

"Huh? Oh, hey guy. I see you met my boss."

Scrooge pulled Kishi down to his eye level and whispered to him, "I found 'im after his world was taken by the Heartless. Ahm givin' him room and board for being mah head chef. He's been making mah register bounce like a newborn babe."

"Oh wow, I'm sorry that happened to you Soma." Kishi said, standing back up.

"Huh? Ah, it's fine. My friends are tough. I'm sure they'll be okay. 'Sides, Mr. McDee said that his friends are restoring lost worlds right now. Hey, you wanna try some new dish I've been working on?" Soma asked, pulling out a small take out box.

"Oh, sure. If it's as good as Mr. McDuck says." "Ah, lad, I dun think that's a good idea." But it was too late. Kishi popped one of the strange morsels in his mouth, and immediately felt like he was gonna die. The slimy bitter texture combined with the overly sweet aroma made it a mix of horrible flavors that made the release of death feel like bliss. He immediately ran to a nearby trash can and threw up into it.

"Oops! Turns out it was disgusting. Guess boiled octopus tentacle with cocoa powder and honey was a bad move. Haha!" Soma said cheerfully.

"Yer alright laddie? I told 'im that if he ever did that to a customer Ahd throw 'im out on the street. He has a habit of making some truly vile dishes along with his amazing ones."

"You're telling me. Anyways, the reason I'm here is because I needed to talk to you, Mr. McDuck." Kishi said, trying to spit out the leftover flavor.

"Ay, what is it lad?" "Well, a few months back when that storm happened, you said you were closing shop and leaving for a bit. I'm assuming, since you know about the Heartless, you were going to another world to lay low."

Scrooge looked to his left and right, making sure no one was listening. "Yer right, lad. I took the boys to another world where I had some contacts to keep us safe. What's yer point?"

"Whatever you used to get to other worlds, I need to borrow one."

"Six months later and yer still daft! Do ya have any idea what a gummiship costs!?"

"Sir, I'm begging you, please. You gave me that extra money cause you said you wanted to invest in my future. If I can use that ship of yours, it'll be an investment in everyone's futures. That's a lot of customers to come back here, right?"

"You definitely know how to negotiate, laddie. But I can't in good conscious give a ship to ya without somethin in return."

"It's just to borrow, sir. Until I can help my Master take out the Heartless."

Scrooge sighed, knowing that the young man wouldn't relent. "Better men than you 'ave tried, boyo. But, I'll cut ya a deal. Soma here has trouble finding ingredients beyond what's in the market here, and I want him to expand the menu. You find new ingredients on different worlds and bring them back here, and I'll let you borrow my gummiship."

Kishi gasped at the proposition, "Oh thank you sir! I promise I won't let you down!" he shook his old boss's hand up and down violently.

"Alright alright laddie, enough of that. Soma, can you watch the bistro while I see Mr. Hikari off?"

"You got it chief."

On the roof of the Bistro, Scrooge showed Kishi the Gummiship, as he called it. It was about twice the size of the trams on the street below. It was a deep navy blue and the main body stood on four suspension legs. Two huge cylindrical jet engines rested on the top corners of the back of the ship. Below them was a rear loading door that served as the main entrance. At the front of the ship on the lower side was the cockpit. It was orb shaped and had a slightly reclining pilots seat suspended from the ceiling in it. Connected to the seat was a platform with two foot pedals on it for acceleration and brakes. On either side of the seat were handles that controlled steering and weapons. Kishi was currently sitting in the pilot seat as Scrooge was lecturing him about the specific controls.

"And once you blast off, you should be able to zip outta Twilight Town fast enough for no one to see you."

"I really can't thank you enough, Mr. McDuck." Kishi said as they walked out of the ship.

"Thank me when you bring 'er back in one piece, laddie. I'm countin' on ya."

Scrooge went back downstairs to the Bistro and left Kishi with the ship. He decided to check out the rest of the ship before taking off. It looked like it had some basic amenities. There was a small sleeping bunk, a pantry full of emergency provisions, and a bathroom. Just as he was about to close the entry hatch for takeoff, a large black blur jumped into the ship and tackled the young man to the ground.

"Oof! Kuro!? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be home?" Kishi asked, recognizing his dog licking his face overjoyed. He managed to push the dog off and the beast jumped onto the bunk, doing three circles in place and laying down.

"Kuro, no. You gotta go back to mom. Come on." He tried to grab the canine, but he wouldn't budge from his spot. Despite Kishi's added strength the dog wouldn't move an inch. Once he stopped to take a small break, Kuro looked up at him and smiled.

"You really wanna go with me? I don't know when we'll be back." His pet just stayed in place and licked his own nose.

Kishi sighed in defeat, "Okay, but if you mess up Mr. McDuck's ship, I'm sending you back here in a flash." he said as he closed the hatch and headed to the cockpit.

"Better hang on to something, buddy. Cause we're about to blast off!"

Revving the engines, the ship rose from its legs and hovered in place. He used the steering levers to point the ship up towards the sky, feeling his blood rushing to the back of his head.

"Hang on Master! I'm on my way!" he pressed his foot down on the accelerator as hard as he could.

ZZZOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOMMM!

In the blink of an eye, the sky parted as the ship rocketed into space and replaced the purple orange glow of Twilight Town with the vast dark mystery of the void. The sky dotted with millions of stars, millions of possible worlds to explore and find new comrades. Staring beyond the veil and seeing the infinitie possibilities made Kishi start tearing up at the sheer size and scope of what was ahead of him.

"I...I did it... I left Twilight Town. I'm starting my journey! You hear that Kuro? We're on our way!" The dog in question howled in response.

"Now...where do we go exactly?" Kishi asked himself. He realized that he had no idea where he would need to go once he actually managed to get off the ground.

'Man, if Master were here, he would bop me on the head for not planning this out thoroughly. C'mon think. It's too dangerous to just pick a direction and go. Think about what you've learned so far. Master Yen Sid said I should follow my heart. And he said that same thing Master Cleric said before he died. May my heart be my guiding key. That can't be a coincidence.'

Kishi summoned Starlight and pointed it forward out the front window. He closed his eyes and focused on what he wanted. He wanted to find his master and help him fight the Heartless. He focused his energy into the blade and a beam of light shot out into the void. It seemed to hit an invisible keyhole and a portal opened up in front of the ship.

"Alright! We're back on track!" He stepped on the pedal and flew through the light. The wormhole made the gummiship shake violently as it passed through the gateway. Kuro was flipping and flopping in the back of the ship. Eventually the light dimmed and Kishi spotted a world in the distance. On the top side was a large white castle covered in brass pipes and gears. On the bottom side was a dark crumbling brown castle with the Heartless emblem on the main spire. In between the two castle was what looked like a medieval town. A holographic display flickered on to Kishi's right to show the name of the world.

"Radiant Garden? I think I remember Master mentioning it once. If he knows about it, he might be here, or at least a clue to where he is."

END OF CHAPTER 3

Ayy we finished the tutorial! Now the real game begins.