Heartbinding
Chapter 4
Landing just outside the town proper, Kishi and his dog, Kuro, noticed that things were currently pretty quiet. No one was really walking the streets and there were no signs of Heartless or anything else wicked. Kuro nervously kept close to his owner, clearly feeling offput by the alien location.
"Now, where are we supposed to start looking for Master Oswald?" Kishi asked, half to his dog and half to himself, neither a good person to ask.
"I guess we should head for the Town Square and see if we can find anyone."
The pair made their way to the center plaza of the town, where a large fountain was put up for decoration. Just to the north was the enormous castle that was visible from out in space. Still, it seemed like no one was out at the moment, much to Kishi's frustration. He decided to sit at the edge of the fountain as Kuro happily lapped up the water.
"Maybe we really made a mistake, buddy. Something just feels off."
Just then, a person came walking downhill from the castle gate. He was a thin pale man with a white lab coat. Though what was most striking was his hair, deep navy blue, bordering on black, grown to almost completely cover one side of his face. He paid no mind to Kishi as he rubbed his temple in frustration.
"Hey! Excuse me, sir?" Kishi said, trying to get his attention.
"Huh? Oh goodness, what are you doing out here. Everyone's staying in lockdown as per the city's order. Did you just get here?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. My name's Kishi Hikari. What do you mean lockdown? Is something happening?"
"I should certainly say so. My name is Ienzo. I'm a researcher at the castle here in town. But you should really get to cover. The Heartless have been spotted mobilizing outside the city, and the Town Defense System is currently offline. Why would you even be here?"
"I'm looking for my Master. He's a grumpy little guy named Oswald. But that's not important. The Heartless are coming? Is there anything I can do to help? Are there people who can defend the city?"
"The former Restoration Committee has some fighters stationed at points around the city. The most likely point they will attack from is just to the south of here at the Bailey. If you truly believe you can aid them, go now. I'll ask some of my assistants about this Oswald character you're searching for. Tell them I sent you."
"You got it! Thank you, Mr. Ienzo!" Kishi bowed quickly and took off running to the south with Kuro sprinting in tow.
Running and weaving through the cobblestone streets, Kishi completely forgot his overall mission and focused intently on the threat at hand. He saw what Heartless were capable of in large enough numbers, even against Master Cleric. As he passed the archway entrance to the Bailey, he was immediately frozen in his tracks by a gigantic blade pointing his way, or was it a gun? It was a huge blade, but the grip was that of a revolver. The wielder of it was a tall man wearing a leather jacket and black jeans with two belts around the waist. He had stern blue eyes with a huge scar between the two. His brown hair trailed down to his shoulders, and around his neck was a silver pendant that was shaped like a lion's head.
"Who are you? Start talking or get cut." Kishi immediately shot his hands up while Kuro growled in anger at his owner being threatened.
"Easy smoking gun. Are you the Restoration Committee? I heard you guys needed help with the Heartless, so I came to do what I can."
"Hmph" the man pulled back his sword and slung it over his shoulder, "I appreciate the sentiment, but you'd be a liability on the battlefield kid. I don't even know what you can do, except have your mutt growl at the Heartless."
"Would this be good enough to help?" Kishi asked sarcastically as he summoned Starlight. This made the man raise his eyebrow, slightly intrigued.
"Another one, eh? Guess we can always use another Keyblade user. You with that new girl?"
"New girl? No, I just got here. I only know one other Keyblade wielder, my master."
"I swear, they're just handing these keys out like a surplus nowadays. Anyways, the name's Leon." "Kishi." "Well, Kishi, I guess beggars can't be choosers. And you showed up right in time. The city's about to close this gate and there's gonna be Heartless heading this way. If you can defend this spot and make sure none of them break through the gate, Radiant Garden will be in your debt."
"You can count on me, Leon."
"No I can't, but I have no choice. I gotta go help Cid bring the Defense System back online." Leon took off running back to town. A large iron gate closed off the entryway as he left, leaving Kishi and Kuro to wait for the oncoming attack.
"It's definitely been a productive day, hasn't it buddy?" Kuro yelped in response.
"Are you gonna be okay against the Heartless? I mean, you protected me from that mugger when I was twelve, but this is a whole nuther level." The dog tilted his head in response.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see. I'll have your back if it gets rough."
Just then, Kishi sensed an approaching threat from behind him. He turned around in time to see a large shard of ice zoom past his shoulder and embed itself in the wall, a rush of cold air following and hitting him in the face. Kuro suddenly got up and lowered himself into a pouncing stance. Suddenly a purple blur raced up to the young novice and tried to strike him with its weapon. He only just barely had time to summon Starlight and bring it up to block the attack.
With a loud CLANG his keyblade struck...another keyblade? It was a deep violet keyblade that appeared to have a cross on the tip and was decorated with crimson diamond shapes. The person holding the keyblade was a girl who looked to be around Kishi's age. She had short wavy brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a purple dress with a billowing skirt that went to her knees. On her chest was a white emblem that looked like a star with two crescent moons on either side of it. Her sleeves also appeared to get wider as they went to her wrist, almost like a kimono. And it appeared that her dress also had a hood much like Kishi's jacket. She wore black stockings and navy blue shoes.
She paused for a moment and then snorted a laugh out, "Where'd you get that keyblade? You rob an antique store?" she asked sarcastically.
"What's your damage lady!? You just attack me out of nowhere when the Heartless could attack any minute?"
The girl casually rested her keyblade on her shoulder, "Leon didn't tell me about someone who looked like you out here, and I heard growling. So I thought you might be an enemy. Everyone else is inside the city."
"Well I just got here, and Leon said I could defend this post. Maybe look before you leap next time. If I had time to retaliate, you would've been toast."
"That's kinda the point, numnuts." she said, flicking him in the forehead, "I wanted to hit fast enough to stop you quickly, especially if you're this close to the gate. But, for what it's worth I'm sorry. I'm Tsuki." she said, holding out her hand.
"Kishi Hikari, and this is Kuro." he replied, begrudgingly shaking the girl's hand.
"So, what happens now?" "Now I do what Leon asked and defend this spot, and hopefully he and that Ienzo guy can help me find my Master."
"Oh, you got a Master? Guess that makes you some fancy apprentice who knows all sortsa tricks. How long have you been fighting Heartless?"
Kishi looked left and right, sweating nervously, "Uh...long enough. Anyway, are you gonna help us? Cause if not, you should head back into town."
"Not like I got much choice in the matter, the gate won't open until the threat's neutralized. That's how the city works." Tsuki replied, gesturing to the iron gate.
Just then, Kuro started growling and got back into his offensive stance. "Well then you better get ready, cause I think they're here." Kishi said, getting into his fighting position. Tsuki brought her keyblade up and held it ready at her side while keeping her left arm up for defense. The three of them all felt the cold grip in their chest that meant the darkness was upon them.
The first wave of Heartless were the small shadow creatures that proved to be cannon fodder. Kishi decided the best strategy was the stay close to the gate and play defensively, striking back at shadows that got close. It seemed like a waste of energy to use any focus skills or magic this early in the battle, especially when these types of Heartless could go down in a single hit. Tsuki seemed to have the same idea, focusing on her melee abilities. While Kishi's training made him fight like a typical kendoist, keeping his blade pointing forward and using swift efficient attacks, Tsuki seemed to move like a ballet dancer, doing lots of twirling and kicks. Kuro took the opportunity to finally go wild and let out frustration, running around the bailey ripping and tearing into the Heartless with claws and teeth. Both humans were rather impressed by how intelligent the dog was acting with how it knew to jump back and dodge whenever an enemy was about to get an advantage.
The new wave of Heartless started to move in. These new types of Heartless looked like armored knights, complete with small swords. As they hobbled towards the gate, Kishi decided to bust out some of his techniques. Using his focus energy, he jumped to a nearby wall and propelled off to the opposite wall, making sure to hit as many knights as he could. He continued to triangle jump slashing at the knight heartless until a rogue one managed to clip him with its sword midjump. This threw his balance off and made him crash into the ground. Several of the creatures started to close in on him from all directions before he could get back up. Just as one of them was about to stab Kishi, a huge ice crystal crashed into the monster and sent it flying. Tsuki casted Blizzard on the remaining Heartless surrounding the young man. She then held her keyblade above her head and sent a huge bolt of lightning arching across the battlefield, stunning many of the Heartless and outright destroying the weaker ones. She offered her hand to Kishi to help him up.
"Thanks. I guess magic is more your thing than getting up close and personal?" Kishi asked, dusting himself off.
"Yeah, I learned everything from my mom. She's crazy strong when it comes to magic, even though she's never used a keyblade."
"Wow, she sounds impressive. Wait... where's Kuro?"
Just then, they felt a massive rumbling underfoot, and the wall of the bailey exploded outwords. The Heartless that were left retreated back. Kishi and Tsuki checked where the bailey was broken into, and were shocked at the site. It was a Heartless, but bigger than any either of them had seen before. It looked like a giant suit of armor, composed of six huge floating pieces. There was a torso, two large boots, two huge gauntlets, and a floating helmet. Kishi was horrified to see in one of its hands was his dog. Kuro was biting at the hand as best as he could, but it proved futile against the metal menace. The Armor Heartless threw Kuro at a nearby wall in annoyance.
"NO!" Kishi yelled. Time slowed down as he used the last of his focus energy to jump down and grab his friend before he was seriously injured. He managed to reach him and spin the dog around so his body would cushion the impact, at the cost of his own health. The resounding crash was intense. Kishi hadn't felt that kind of pain since his first day of training. He fell to the ground, clutching Kuro for dear life. The pain to his back was so severe, he didn't even notice the amount of dust and debris in the air getting into his mouth, making him cough like nobody's business. He tried his best to regain his composure and cast Cure over himself and his companion. What he didn't realize was that the Armor Heartless was almost right on top of him when Tsuki stepped in with a barrier spell that stopped it from crushing them.
"You idiot! You better have some secret awesome technique or I don't think we're getting out of this!" she yelled as she held up the barrier with all her strength, the armored fiend hammering it with its fists over and over again.
"Are you okay buddy?" Kishi asked Kuro, petting the dog's head. The green energy surrounded the two and Kuro barked happily, wagging his tail.
"Let's get back to beating this guy." His dog barked in agreement. Just then, Kishi noticed a light starting to glow in Kuro's chest. Confused, he felt a warmth in his own chest. He looked down to see a similar glow on him.
"Well what do ya know? Looks like we got that secret technique after all." he said. While still sitting in the rubble, Kishi hugged his dog around the neck, and a strange light engulfed both of them. Just as the Armor Heartless broke through Tsuki's barrier, it was forced back again by the light coming from the boy and his dog.
"What the...?" Tsuki was almost speechless. The light died down and, in the place of Kishi and Kuro, was Kishi by himself but...different? The blue trim around his clothes were gone, replaced by more black that almost appeared to be made of fur. The Oswald emblem on his chest was replaced by one that looked like a wolf's head. His hair was a lot shaggier than it normally was, and it looked like he had a pair of black dog ears sticking out the top of his head. He also apparently had a dog's tail. Black hairs seemed to be spaced out around his face, and he was sporting super sharp teeth as he growled at the Heartless. He was hunched over in an almost crouching position, and in place of his keyblade was a pair of black claws on his knuckles.
"Well this is new. But if our hearts are one, then we'll always be stronger together, AWWOOOOOOOO!" Kishi(?) howled, his voice sounding much more growling than before. His howl made the metal plates on the Armor Heartless vibrate and shake. He then pounced at the creature with his new claws out. The monster tried to hold its hand up in retaliation, but the dogboy's claw cut through it as if it were made of paper, leaving three huge tears in the armor. He continued his assault by landing on the far wall above the battlefield for a fraction of a second before delivering a dive kick on the torso armor piece. The Heartless stumbled back from the impact, but otherwise seemed fine.
Tsuki got up from getting the wind (and magic) knocked out of her. She saw her new comrade on all fours ready to strike again, waiting for the Armor to make its move. She decided to take the opportunity and cast her water spell, lobbing a globule of water at the knight, dousing it completely in liquid.
"You'd better hit the deck, furry boy!" she called out to Kishi. She held her keyblade above her head and cast Thunder again. A black cloud formed above the battlefield and a bright yellow bolt of electricity struck down from the heavens. Kishi managed to jumped back without getting hit, but the water combined with the Heartless' metal body made it a prime conducter. If the creature could scream in pain, it would. Bright yellow energy rippled across all six of its armor pieces. With cracks and pops, its four limbs all crumbled and fell apart, leaving only the torso and helmet. Both fighters assumed this meant the fight was over. After all, how could a monster without legs actually attack?
Turns out it could pretty well, as it spun its floating torso like a top, tearing up the ground and sending huge chunks of rubble around the field. Kishi did his best to use his new canine agility to duck and weave through all the rocks and debris, while Tsuki stayed put and made another forcefield around her. Kishi managed to dodge for about a minute before a large rock pelted him in the side, sending him sprawling across the floor. Tsuki bit her thumb in frustration. They had to get back on the offensive soon.
"You still alive?" she yelled.
"Ugh...barely." Kishi growled out in reply.
"If we can't fight him on the ground, we'll have to finish him off in the air. Aero!" She performed another spell with her keyblade and a small gust of wind appeared underneath the dogboy. The sudden force rocketed him into the sky. Kishi felt his stomach churning as he spun hand over foot in the air. He managed to collect himself and focus on his target. He suddenly had an idea that might work, cause there really wasn't any better idea at the moment. He put his claws together infront of him and started spinning as he dove down to the ground.
'If I miss this shot, I'm probably gonna break my neck.' he thought as he spiraled towards the Armor Heartless. Tsuki caught on to what he was doing and cast Blizzard to freeze the Heartless in place. With a piercing strike, he tunneled straight through the armored torso, and landed on all fours behind it. The Heartless shook for a bit and fell to the ground, the helmet tumbling forward before the whole beast crumbled to dust.
Kishi delivered a loud howl in victory before a flash of light caused him and Kuro to separate into their old selves again. The young man flexed his fingers in confusion about what just happened.
Tsuki ran up to him and cast Cura on all three of them, "What the eff was that about!? You turned into a ... dog ... man?"
Kishi fiddled with the collar of his jacket, "I'm not really sure, that's never happened before. Apparently my Master enchanted this outfit so I can resonate my heart with people close to me. I didn't think THAT's what he meant, but it seemed to save our behinds."
"That was SO COOL!" An unknown voice hollered. Kishi and Tsuki looked around for the source of the voice before a puff of smoke revealed who it was. It was a skinny young woman who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. She had short black hair with a white headband wrapped around it. She wore a black shirt, vest, and short shorts, with matching boots. On her back was an enormous four pointed shuriken.
"Aw man, you guys were so in sync! Literally! You were like ZOOM! and WHAM! and THWUNK! and RUFF! And so was this little guy!" She said bubbily as she petted Kuro. The dog barked happily and turned over for her to rub his belly. The two humans were confused about the new arrival.
"Uh...thanks? Who are you again?" Kishi asked.
The girl looked up at the two, but didn't stop petting, "Oh right, sorry. I'm the great ninja Yuffie. I'm with the Restoration Committee. Leon sent me to check on you guys since the Heartless stopped attacking the other entrance points. And I can see why. You guys tore that thing to shreds! Anyway, the gate's open now, and you're clear to meet us back at our HQ. It'll be the house with the smoking chimney. Yuffie OUT!" She threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared.
"So, what are you gonna do now, psycho magic girl? I gotta keep looking for my Master." Kishi asked, hoisting Starlight over his shoulder.
"Well first off, you have no right to call me psycho when you just turned into a wolfboy. Second, I'm going too. You may be a teacher's pet, but I'm looking to become a Master. Now move it." she replied, pushing him aside by the shoulder as she made her way through the destroyed bailey and back to town.
Kishi followed Yuffie's intructions back to the supposed HQ in town. It looked like any other ordinary cottage, no different to any other ones on the street. He knocked on the wooden door, and a new face answered. It was a very kind looking woman with long curly brown hair, wearing a pink and red dress.
"Oh, you must be the new keyblade wielders Leon mentioned. I'm Aerith." she said softly.
"Wielders?" Kishi asked, he turned around and saw Tsuki standing behind him and Kuro, causing him to yelp.
"We were going to the same place anyway, dummy."
Inside was Leon and Yuffie sitting at a small wooden table. Sitting at a computer was an older looking blond man with a tight white t shirt and a cigarette. Kishi assumed this was that Cid person Leon mentioned, but he really didn't seem like the type who wanted to be bothered.
Leon was the first to speak up, "Yuffie told us what you guys did. Not bad. You make a pretty good team."
"Oh, we're not a team. We just happened to be in the same place." Kishi corrected.
"Well, whatever you guys are, a deal's a deal. Did you need something?"
"Yeah, I'm looking for my master. He's a short grumpy guy by the name of Oswald. He took off and I'm trying to find him."
"Hmmm. Oswald. The name sounds familiar but I can't quite remember." Leon said, rubbing his chin.
"He was just here, Leon. You're really gonna be that damn dense?" Cid said without looking up from his computer.
"Wait, you've seen Master Oswald?" Kishi asked the older man.
"Yeah, he was here but only for a little bit. He left earlier this morning. Said he was gonna keep fighting offworld."
Kishi sighed at the answer and looked down at Kuro, "Looks like we're back at square one, buddy."
"If finding your Master is really that important to you, why don't you start looking at nearby worlds? Even if you don't find him, you'll still be helping other people being attacked by the Heartless, if today was anything to go by." Leon said.
"Yeah...I guess you're right. Well, I'm glad I was able to help you guys at least."
"Don't worry about it. If you stay true to your heart, you're sure to find what you're after." Leon said, placing his hand on Kishi's shoulder. The young man nodded in affirmation.
"Alright. Thanks for information, I guess I'd better be off." He turned to Tsuki as he was about to leave the cottage, "And it was...uh...nice meeting you I guess."
"Wait, you're just gonna take off?"
"I might aswell, no reason for me to stay here, and it's better than letting my ship gather dust."
"Wait. You have a ship?"
"Yeah, of course I do. How do you think I got here?"
"Uh... look... I'm sorry for everything that happened. But... I'm kinda... stuck here without a vessel." Tsuki said nervously, poking her index fingers together. "Do you think it might be alright if I came along?"
"Seriously? What your mom just dropped you off at this world or something?"
Tsuki laughed nervously, "Actually...something close to that. But yeah, I don't have a lot of other options. I promise I'll be nicer, I just need to get to other worlds."
Kishi sighed in frustration, "I don't know. Leon, do you have any say in this?" he asked, turning towards the Committee leader.
"All I know is she's been a huge help to us in the week she's been here. If she goes with you, you might be annoyed, but you'll have a strong ally in your fight. And she's training to be a Master, which you can't really do staying on one world."
"Then I guess my hands are tied. Kuro, do you think you'll be okay with her coming with?" the dog in question woofed happily and wagged his tail.
"Alright, if Kuro likes you, I guess you're in. Let's get back to the ship."
"You got it, Woofboy."
Back on the ship, it took a full minute of arguing to stop Tsuki from getting in the pilot's seat. Kishi argued that she had never flown a ship before and Mr. McDuck would never allow a pilot who would immediately crash anything they touched.
With a huff she decided to sit on one of the spare bunks staring out the window. Looking over his shoulder, Kishi wondered how someone could seemingly be so bored with the beauty of space. He shrugged it off and brought out Starlight again to chart another course for a new world. They flew for what felt like a few hours before the exhaustion of the day's events finally caught up to Kishi. He decided to set the ship to idle and keep shields up as he got up and went to the bunk area.
"So, where are you from?" Tsuki asked from her bed.
"Twilight Town. It's not that different from Radiant Garden actually. What about you?"
"My mom said that I can't mention my home world. It's a secret."
"That sounds dumb, I didn't even know other worlds were a thing before I started training."
"Well, I promised her I wouldn't say anything. Maybe we should just go to sleep."
"I guess so."
And with that, Kishi rolled over and went to sleep rather quickly. Kuro curled up at his feet and also went to sleep in an instant.
Meanwhile...
"Interesting. It appears two new players have appeared on the board."
"Oh please, if Sora and his buddies are pawns, then these two would be lucky to even be considered pieces."
"Maybe so, but even a high card can be a winning hand under the right circumstances."
"Eh, the world they're heading for has one of us looking after it. If they have any potential, 'He'll' snuff that light out."
"Still, the logistics of this world is fascinating. Every human forced into stasis at once..."
END OF CHAPTER 4