It's said that time flies when you're having fun. Kairi has always found that to be true. These last five months have absolutely blazed by, having Sora and Riku back home on Destiny Islands. Today, she's learning that the opposite of that statement is true as well. When you're about to be punched in the face, time seems to slow to a crawl.
WHACK!
"Nice one, Princess," Azlyn comments sarcastically, taking a few steps back and watching Kairi recover. "I've told you a hundred times, you've gotta keep your guard up."
The novice Keyblade wielder opens her mouth to protest, but a swift kick in the gut silences her before a single word can be uttered. Grunting, she stumbles back with a hand clutched to her stomach.
"And don't let yourself get distracted!"
Azlyn swings another punch, but by now Kairi's learned her lesson. She quickly raises the hand not currently holding her soft practice sword, catching Azlyn's fist in a firm grip. Her "blade" swings in a backhand strike, knocking into the knight to score a hit.
"Ha!" the redhead triumphantly croons, stepping back from her opponent. Turning to the gym's wall, she gives Sora a cheerful thumbs up.
For a moment, he just looks at her. Gone is her many-zippered pink dress, impractical for heavy combat. In its place she wears simple, practical clothes of a style not unlike SAT's good fairy created outfits: A pale purple sleeveless hoody, half-zipped and revealing her white tank top underneath. A pair of white pants cover her lower body, ending just below the knees. Her shoes match the hoody, and of course white fingerless gloves cover her hands. White sleeves extend from the gloves to her elbows. Also in deference to her training, the Princess of Heart has her red hair put up in a bun.
She looks good, in Sora's opinion. Then again, if you were to ask him he'd say she looked good in anything she wore.
"Good job!" he calls back, grinning. From his vantage point, Sora can see that Azlyn has already recovered. Kairi's still looking at him, and he knows he should say something. But would that defeat the whole purpose of this training?
His internal debate proves moot. Before he can make a decision, Azlyn is diving towards Kairi. On instinct Sora goes to cry out, but it's too late now. Azlyn's knee makes harsh contact with the back of Kairi's, sending her to the floor. Still in motion, the knight thrusts upward and traps her student's neck within the crook of her elbow.
"I'm sorry," Azlyn hisses directly into Kairi's ear. "I seem to remember telling you not to get distracted? That's weird, maybe my old memory is on the fritz."
"Azlyn…" Sora protests, pushing off the wall and stepping forward.
Desperate, Kairi thrusts back her elbow, aiming for Azlyn's gut. It's a direct hit, but the knight does little more than grunt in reply.
"Not a bad idea," she admits, releasing the girl from her hold and stepping back. "Maybe you are learning something." Sora reaches down a hand to help his girlfriend to her feet, but she refuses and rises on her own.
"I've got it now, Az," Kairi says, swinging her arm around in a circle to get some circulation back. "Ready to go again?"
"You don't have to, if you don't want to," Sora says, nerves wracking his voice.
"I'm okay," the redhead replies with a determined nod. She gives the practice sword a quick swing, as if that proves her readiness.
"If you're feeling too squeamish," Azlyn informs her maid of honor in a teasing voice, "you can step out. To be honest, you're kind of a distraction."
"The best kind," Kairi adds with a teasing wink. Behind her Azlyn makes a fake gagging noise, clutching at her throat. Hearing it, the Princess of Heart gives her friend a deadpan look. "Oh, like you're one to talk. Now c'mon. Five more minutes, then I get half an hour to talk with you and Tel about centerpieces."
"What's there to talk about?" Azlyn scoffs. "I already told you what I want!"
"For the last time, Azlyn, there is no way we're commissioning thirty golden statues of you and Telary!"
The bride-to-be throws up her hands. "Typical! You talk and talk about wanting my input, and then when I do give an idea…"
Rolling his eyes, Sora decides the best thing to do for now is take his leave. Not bothering with a goodbye that won't even be heard, he exits the Gummi ship's small gym. The hallway beyond is quiet, the girls' argument thankfully muffled by the metal of the wall.
Curious, he glances up at a clock hanging on the wall across from him. Looking at the time, he grimaces. Thirty-five minutes into the trip. That's all it had taken to get into a discussion about the wedding. Considering how the whole point of this trip was to get away from wedding-prep for a few days, that's pretty pathetic.
Azlyn has been far more conducive on the subject since Agrabah. And Kairi, now slipping into "wedding planner mode" with the same fervor with which she likes to organize the rest of her life, has spent several days in the time between then and now going back and forth to Disney Castle. Sora had gone with her once, and that had been quite enough.
In all, the integration of what Sora considers to be the two halves of his life is going well. But, to be honest, he's always known that Kairi would get along with Azlyn and Telary, even disregarding their built-in history together. So that's one down, basically. And one to go. One significantly more difficult one to go.
The Keybearer wanders into the main room/kitchen. Riku sits at the table there, idly staring at nothing. Every few moments he'll twiddle a thumb. He looks up when Sora enters the room, but only for a moment.
"Uh, hey!" Sora awkwardly greets the older boy, giving him a sheepish grin and wave.
"Hi."
Sora moseys closer, still smiling. "How are… things?"
A shrug. "Okay."
Awkward silence. The Keybearer moves his hand to rub at the back of his neck, but quickly stops himself. It's an obvious tell, one Riku would pick up in an instant.
"The ship's great, huh?" Sora asks, pressing on in hopes that somehow the situation's weirdness can be lessened. "A lot more room than you'd think."
"There sure is," Riku replies, brushing a lock of silver hair behind his ear. It's much shorter than it used to be, merely framing his face rather than hanging down to his shoulders. When asked, he'd said he had his reasons for the haircut, and that had been that. "Must have been nice, traveling around in it."
"It was!" Sora agrees with a preppy smile. Excited, he pounds his hand against the table. Riku barely twitches. "And y'know, it's even cooler when you're in the cockpit. You can see everything just passing you by."
Riku says nothing, only barely nodding. His eyes momentarily dart over to the ladder leading to the cockpit, but they don't linger.
"Tel's up there, too," Sora says, searching desperately for something to say. "He knows all about this ship and stuff!" Another nod, this one even slighter than the last. "C'mon, let's go up there! He's probably getting kinda lonely."
"You can go ahead if you want…" Riku begins to reply.
But Sora's having none of it. "C'mon, Riku. You can't just sit around by yourself, looking all broody! You're over that whole phase, right?"
Riku sighs. "Right," he replies with a little smirk.
Sora heads for the upward ladder, grinning cheerfully. When he hears the scrape of Riku pulling his chair out behind him, the boy's smile widens. This will be perfect. All it'll take is a little nudge, and his two favorite guys will be great friends too!
Telary, sitting at the controls, looks briefly over his shoulder. He smile when he sees that Sora has come up to visit. He'd been getting kinda lonely up here all alone.
"Hey there, Tel," Sora greets the redhead enthusiastically, walking over and clapping a hand against his friend's shoulder. "We came up to check out the scenery." The Keybearer points up at the swirling colors of Gummi space outside the round glass canopy.
"We…?" Telary asks, looking behind once again to see that Riku has entered his domain as well. Faltering momentarily, the pilot manages to stutter out a cheerful-sounding, "Ah, well, the more the merrier."
"Would ya just look at that!" Sora declares, plopping down in an empty chair. Clasping his hands behind his head, the Keybearer looks up at the passing scenery. "It's great, right Riku?"
"Sure, Sora," the silver-haired young man agrees. His voice has its usual calm-and-cool tone.
"Flying is great," Sora continues to babble, filling the room with his chatter. "Sometimes Tel would even let me fly the ship myself. I was pretty good at it, right?"
"You were," the wizard concedes with a small nod. "We only almost crashed the one time."
"Nobody gets things right on the first try," Sora huffs. "I got a lot better though. Tel's a pretty good teacher. Like I said, he knows everything!"
"Sora…" Telary looks away, a blush clearly visible on his cheeks.
After checking to make sure his best friend is still occupied, Riku rolls his eyes.
The Keybearer is far from done, though. "Oh, maybe you should show him how it works Tel! I'll bet anything Riku would be great at it in no time. He picks things up really quickly."
"We, uh, may not have enough time for that, Sora," Tel answers his young friend, fighting hard to keep his teeth unclenched. "We're coming up on the world soon."
"Good thing, too," Azlyn says, entering the cockpit. Kairi follows along behind her. "The Princess has gotten the hang of basic combat pretty quick. Time for her agility training, which Deep Jungle should be perfect for working on."
"Don't work her too hard," Telary admonishes his fiancée. "This is supposed to be a relaxing trip. A nice little break from all the stuff going on in our lives. A cleanse for our bodies and…"
A loud, mocking snore from Azlyn cuts the wizard off handily. Telary's face reddens as Sora and Kairi laugh. Even Riku snickers a bit.
"Isn't Gummi space amazing, Riku?" Kairi asks her silver-haired friend, looking up as they pass through a swirling nebula of color. "We warped right to Agrabah on our last trip, so I really didn't get to appreciate it like I should've."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Riku admits, his stony expression softening. "Nicer than the Realm of Darkness, anyway."
"Y'know, Rik," Azlyn suddenly chimes in, as if she's only now become aware of his presence in the cockpit, "I've been thinking about it, and I'm not sure why you went with that haircut. Got it all cut back like that. I mean, it draws so much attention to your face."
Sora instinctively looks to Telary (his usual routine after Azlyn insults someone and before Tel admonishes her for it), who seems a bit too preoccupied with the dashboard at the moment. Upon realizing the wizard isn't going to say anything, the Keybearer says, "C'mon, Azlyn…"
"And I," Riku shoots back, sitting up a bit straighter in his chair, "can't help but wonder why you keep opening your mouth. I mean, it draws so much attention to your personality."
Now Telary has a reaction. "Hey!" he shouts, whipping his gaze over to the silver-haired young man.
"At least I have a personality," Azlyn counters, leaning forward.
"I still have every ugly hat my aunt's ever knitted me," Riku says, "that doesn't mean I go around showing them off."
"Oh look, we're here!" Sora declares loudly, standing up and making a beeline for the instruments panel. Sure enough, the green-covered sphere of Deep Jungle stands out against the dark blue space ahead.
"So we are," Telary agrees, nodding to himself as he focuses again on his pilot duties. Luckily, the rest of the cockpit has managed to settle themselves down. "Now, we have all the camping equipment with us, so we'll actually have to set down."
"That's a lot of trees," Kairi says. She's standing to her brother's left, carefully examining a topography scan.
"We'll need to find a pretty big clearing if we're gonna land." Scratching his chin, the wizard initiates a computer scan.
"We visited here before we had the teleporter, right?" Sora says.
"We did actually," Azlyn agrees. "Huh, where did we land last time?"
With the topography scan going, Telary has time enough to spare his fiancée and Sora withering looks. Sheepishly, they both recall the rocky events of their last visit to the jungle.
"Oh, yeah," Sora chuckles, scratching at the back of his neck. "Now I remember."
KH-KH-KH
The Gummi ship's cargo ramp opens with a loud hiss. It's barely finished lowering itself before Sora goes bounding out of the ship. Trees surround their small clearing, muted sunlight shining through the leafy canopies. The foliage stretches as far as the eye can see, and further still. Rustles, roars, birdsong, and the flutter of insect wings fill the air with sound.
"I'd forgotten how cool this place was," the Keybearer remarks, turning to see the rest of his friends disembarking.
"Metaphorically speaking," Telary notes, fanning himself with one hand. Kairi walks past him, taking in her surroundings with the same awe Sora had.
"Every world is so different," she remarks with a smile, taking Sora's hand. "I'm so glad to finally be seeing them."
Sora swoops in and pecks her cheek. "I'm glad you are too. With me."
"Oh, puke!" Azlyn grumbles aloud, the two folded and packaged tents over her shoulders. Telary reaches out to take one off his fiancée, but she just snorts and swings it out of reach. A bit dejected, he turns back to the large pile of outdoor living paraphernalia.
Riku takes the place in silently, arms folded.
"So, are we setting up here, or…?" Sora asks, looking around at the rather sparse area remaining in the clearing.
Telary shakes his head, struggling with a trio of sleeping bags. "No. There's another open spot about half a mile from here. Smaller, but more space than we've got here with the Gummi ship."
"Half a mile?" Kairi says with a frown, releasing Sora's hand. "That's a long way to walk in the middle of the night."
"Why would we have to…?" Sora begins to ask, stopping abruptly when he realizes what the girl is talking about.
Telary shrugs. "Yeah, that's kind of the rub there."
"So use a tree," Azlyn scoffs. Off Kairi's less-than-enthusiastic expression, she adds, "Consider it part of your training, if that makes you feel better."
The redheaded girl sighs. "It really doesn't."
Telary trips on a pebble, wobbling forward and dropping everything he's carrying. He wobbles back, landing hard on his rear with a yelp. Wincing, Kairi and Azlyn rush to his side to make sure the wizard is okay.
"Maybe I should take those," Riku says, bending down and gathering up the rolled up sleeping bags under his free arm. The other is already burdened with several fold-out stools, but the silver-haired young man doesn't seem to mind.
"I'm fine!" Using Kairi's arm as a lever, Telary regains his feet. He thrusts his arms out towards Riku. "I can take those."
"It's fine."
Tel frowns, a bit poutier than is normal for him. "No, seriously…"
"I've got it," Riku repeats firmly. Telary's frown turns darker, but he relents.
"I guess it really is good to have you around, Rik," Azlyn says with a smirk. "Our own personal packmule."
"What're you talking about, Az?" the silver-haired boy shoots back sharply. "I thought you were already the group's jackass."
"Guys, seriously," Kairi sighs, rolling her eyes as she gathers some cooking utensils. Looking up, she notices a large red bird perched on a root in front of her. It gives her a happy little tweet. She smiles back at it, earning another twitter.
"Well, don't you just make friends everywhere," Azlyn quips.
Sora laughs. "Yeah, animals have always loved Kairi!"
A few minutes later, all of their supplies are gathered and the group is off to their campsite. Telary leads with Azlyn by her side, and Riku drifts along a ways behind him. With a conspiratorial nod, Sora calls Kairi back to walk with him out of the others' earshot.
"Well, it looks like we've got a problem," the Keybearer sighs. Kairi frowns at the boy's truly defeated tone. "I mean, did you see whathappened back there? And on the Gummi ship? Yikes."
"Yeah," the Princess of Heart agrees with a nod. "Riku and Azlyn sure are…"
"What are you talking about?" Sora interrupts. Off his girlfriend's confused expression, he explains. "I'm talking about what's going on between Riku and Telary."
That doesn't really clear things up for Kairi. "Sora, those two have barely interacted at all. Thus, no problem. Meanwhile, Az and Riku have been going at each other since…"
The Keybearer rolls his eyes. "That's nothing. They've just recognized each other as an outlet for their natural aggressive behavior."
For a few moments, Kairi just stares at the young man before her, mouth agape. "Uh, wow. Okay." Frowning, she continues, "Not to sound, um, like I'm belittling your intelligence or anything but, how…?"
He shrugs. "Maybe I'm not a genius like you or Tel or Riku, but I know my friends, Kairi. I can read 'em like a book!"
"Right, sorry," Kairi quickly apologizes. Sora recognizes that she's clearly still baffled by his observation, but decides to let it slide. "Okay, so explain what exactly you're 'reading' from Riku and Telary."
"Something bad's going on between them," Sora explains happily, shaking his head. "I could feel it every time I mentioned one to the other. And back here with the bags… Oh, Kairi, that was a way worse fight than anything Az and Riku could have. It just looked small."
"I see," the Princess of Heart replies with a nod. "Well, I guess I can see where you're coming from. Okay, so, we'll just keep an eye on it. Given the people involved, I don't think we have to worry about it exploding into an actual confrontation anytime soon."
"You mean, I'll keep an eye on it," Sora corrects. "You are going to focus on your training with Azlyn. And having fun."
"Found the clearing!" Telary calls from up ahead.
"And Kairi has ten seconds to get her ass over here, or we go double on the training!" Azlyn, demanding as ever, declares. "10…9…"
Without another word, Kairi takes off at a sprint, everything she's carrying dropped to the jungle floor. It's a near thing, but she manages to make it before Azlyn reaches zero. Leaving Sora, of course, to gather up all she'd left behind. A great beginning.
"…Never seen anything like it before," Telary is saying when Sora joins the rest of his friends.
The wizard and his sister stand apart from Az and Riku, examining a strange stone column standing near the treeline. It's clearly very old, covered in vines and cracked in several places. Stepping closer, Sora notices that it's not just a column; it's some kind of statue! A feline face, perhaps that of a panther or leopard, peers out from the mess of untamed foliage.
"As far as I know," the wizard continues, "there is no civilization in this jungle. Unless the gorillas built this."
"Fascinating," Azlyn says with a pronounced eyeroll. "How about we admire the scenery after we have a place to sleep? C'mon, Tel, help me with our…"
Sora shakes his head. "No, Az. Don't you remember? We're not dividing up the sleeping arrangements by couples. Boy tent and girl tent, that's what we agreed on."
The knight scowls. "Geeze, when did you turn into some kinda nun, Sora?"
"He just wants everyone to feel comfortable, Azlyn," Telary answers for the younger boy. "And frankly, the jungle is not the place for…" He blushes. "…Well, y'know."
"I'll help you out with the tent, Az!" Kairi offers cheerfully, making her way over to the blonde knight. They begin to assemble their shelter, and it only takes a few minutes for Azlyn to inform her that she's doing things completely wrong.
While the girls work, Sora and Telary make their way over to where Riku has pulled out their own tent. Looking at the heavy brown material, the Keyblade wielder huffs out a nostalgic sigh.
"Do you think we'll be able to see Tarzan?" he asks Telary, who's carefully scrutinizing the instruction book included with their tent. Riku just rolls his eyes at the wizard's studying and begins to set things up.
"There's a definite possibility," Tel allows, looking up from his reading. "I made sure we're in the vicinity of where Jane's camp was located. I'm not sure how long she was planning on staying here though, and with the gorillas' migratory nature…" He shrugs. "There's just no way to be sure."
A loud, familiar yell splits the air from nearby. Everyone stops what they're doing and looks towards its apparent source. Most are surprised, but one certain young man just lets his mouth spread slowly into a satisfied smile.
"Or maybe he's right over there," Telary mutters to himself, sighing as he shakes his head. "Because, of course, our universe runs on strange bursts of lucky coincidence."
"That was a person?" Kairi asks, eyes widened by surprise. That's certainly not a noise she's ever heard any human make. Except maybe Riku if you woke him up too early.
The wizard nods. "Yep. Tarzan has quite the lung capacity."m
The loud trill of a trumpet adds itself to the jungle din.
"Who do we know that makes that noise?" Azlyn asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Why don't we go find out?" Sora suggests with a grin. "The tents can wait. C'mon!"
The Keyblade master takes off through the trees, heading in the direction from which Tarzan's cry originated. Riku takes off after him immediately, with Azlyn on the silver-haired Keybearer's heels. Kairi follows her, and Telary lets out a big sigh. Surveying the campsite once again to get a good lock on its location in his head, he rushes after his friends.
As he runs, Sora dimly notes that he's passing by more of the strange statuary that had been in the campsite. Another yell from Tarzan stirs his feet forward. He can hear the others behind him, following right along. Tarzan is very nearby, and at this close distance Sora can clearly make out the sounds of struggle. Giant footsteps pound the jungle floor.
Finally, Sora breaks through the thick barrier of foliage, finding himself atop a small hill sloping downwards into a green valley at the edge of a high cliff. In the valley, none to the Keybearer's surprise, is Tarzan. The ape-raised man looks as fearsome as ever, swinging his long wooden spear with abandon at a group of creatures whose appearances startle Sora a bit more.
Six tall, bipedal leopard men surround Sora's old friend. Each wears a dark brown cloth around its hips, as well as a deep blue covering over its head. They act as animalistic as heir savage appearances would suggest, snarling and scratching. Still, Tarzan fights on.
He's not alone though. A red elephant fights alongside him. There are another few leopard-men taking the fight to the pachyderm, but with relative size and strength being what it is, they aren't proving quite effective.
"What the hell is going on down there?" Azlyn remarks caustically as she emerges from the jungle. Looking up, her frown deepens still more. "And what's with that!"
The 'that' in question is a large, if dilapidated, city of light grey stone. It stretches across a huge sunken valley, seemingly centered around a crumbling ziggurat. A long stone bridge connects from the city's edge up to the jungle cliff, an elaborate archway serving as something of an official border. This is definitely a part of the jungle they hadn't visited last time.
"Uh, huh?" That's all Telary has to contribute to the discussion.
Kairi, who arrived just ahead of her brother, has to admit that it's quite rattling to see the indomitable SAT trio look so stumped. By this point, she sort of assumed they'd seen everything there was to see in the universe. In an odd way, it's nice to know that experience be damned, no one has truly seen it all.
"As weird as this is, only one thing matters," Sora declares, using his most commanding voice. "Tarzan's in trouble, and we need to help him!"
"Too right!" Azlyn agrees. Looking back at Kairi, she says, "Watch this closely, Princess. Ya might learn something!" She leaps into the air and effortlessly flips forward. Midair, she throws her shield to the ground. Landing on it, the knight surfs down the grassy hill towards the fray below.
"Maybe I'll try that later," the redhead decides, opting instead for a regular charge down the hill. Sora and Riku flank her, both with blades at the ready.
Azlyn smashes into a pair of leopard-men, jumping off her shield to punch another in the snout. Tarzan smacks another opponent away with the butt of his spear, looking at the newcomer in shock. He's even more surprised when he looks up and sees two more familiar faces coming down the hill.
"Sora!" the ape-raised man exclaims happily, dodging a leopard-man's clawed swipe.
The Keybearer only nods in greeting, smacking down another of the strange animal/man hybrids. Kairi takes another down with a blow to the head, and Riku cuts down one with a swipe at its legs. Another dives for him, but he dodges easily. Another slash sends it to the ground.
The remaining leopard-men, smarter than they look, seem to decide all at once that the odds of victory are no longer very good. Snarling, the bestial bipeds withdraw.
"You fools!" an enraged voice snarls from somewhere above. Looking up, the group sees a dark-skinned woman dressed in a black midriff-exposing top and long loin cloth. Her white hair blows in the wind, and in one hand she grips a tall wooden staff with a round jewel atop it. "What kind of men are you, running away like cowards!"
"Where is Jane, La?" Tarzan demands, surprisingly erudite.
"You know my terms very well, Tarzan," the woman snarls. "If you want your precious woman back, agree to be my consort!"
"Not going to happen," the ape-man replies, snarling defiantly. "I love Jane, and only her." Looking down, his scowl becomes a smirk. "You can see one of the reasons for yourself."
Jane scrambles up the cliff beside the bridge, dressed in a yellow blouse and long olive-green skirt. A gorilla with dark blue fur climbs up beside her.
"No!" the woman who is apparently La cries out. "How could this be?"
"I see you haven't yet learned," Jane replies with a smirk. "I'm rather very resourceful when the occasion arises."
"You ever feel like you charged into the middle of something?" Sora quietly remarks to Kairi. The Princess of Heart nods sympathetically.
"You will pay for this!" La continues to scream. To be honest, Sora thinks it's all a little over-the-top. Either way, she raises her staff, the pink gem glowing. Bringing it down, she fires an equally-pink blast of energy, straight for Tarzan.
The ape man moves to get out of the way, and Riku instinctively steps forward. Raising the Keyblade in a high block, he deflects the blast harmlessly into the air.
"WHAT!" La screams, again. Seriously, this lady can carry on with the melodrama. "How could that be? My most powerful attack and you simply…! And the way you bested my leopard-men!"
"Name's Riku," he replies, smirking. It carries just a hint of the old charm of his younger days on Destiny Island. "And by the way, nice outfit. Let me guess, half off?"
Even Azlyn chuckles a bit at that one.
"I see," La says, suddenly calm. In fact, her voice has a sultry hint to it as she gazes down at the silver-haired Keyblade wielder. "Well, this is all quite interesting. Until we meet again, Tarzan… Ad friends." The queen slams her staff down on the stone of the archway. Pink energy surrounds her in a vortex, and with an echoing leopard's snarl, she vanishes.
"Ooookay," Azlyn remarks, bewildered. Turning to Jane, she asks, "So, uh, what in the ever-loving heck was that all about?"
"Perhaps this isn't the best place to discuss such things," the young scientist declares, warily eyeing the city below.
"I agree," Tarzan says, once again shocking Sora, Azlyn, and Telary with his command of vocabulary. "We should get going." Turning to the red elephant, he makes a few uncannily accurate trumpeting noises. The elephant answers right back, nodding shyly.
"Sometimes," Kairi whispers to Riku, "I realize that I've really underestimated just how strange some of Sora's adventures were." The silver-haired young man shoots her a small grin in return.
"Tantor says you can hop on," Tarzan explains, patting his large friend's flank. The elephant bends his knees, and Jane, Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Kairi scramble up on his back. Riku declines with a firm shake of his head. Once everyone's set, the group takes off into the jungle.
"Seems like things have really changed around here," Sora calls down to Tarzan.
"Like how you're talking all good," Azlyn chimes in.
"I owe it all to Jane," Tarzan replies, blushing as he looks up at the young woman. "She's an amazing teacher."
"And you a capable student," Jane says with a smile.
"Okay, then next question," Sora says. "What was up with that lady? And the leopard people? And that city?"
"The lost city of Opar," Jane explains with a scholarly air. "It seems to have been great once, but now it's only ruins. Ruled over by Queen La, an unpleasant woman with a rather unhealthy fixation on Tarzan."
"She wants 'the perfect mate'," Tarzan adds. "And it seems I'm her number one pick. Those creatures were the leopard-men, her servants. We actually don't know a lot about them, but they're very loyal to La."
"It's nice to know," Sora chimes in wistfully, "that I'm not the only guy in the universe who attracts such weirdness."
"Though admittedly you win for largest volume and variety of said weirdness," Telary points out.
"By the way," Jane interrupts. "What exactly are you doing back in the jungle, Sora?"
"Camping trip," the Keybearer answers, smiling. "We're actually setting up not that far away from here."
"Oh, what fun!" Jane says delightedly. "Though I must admit, after spending so much time on an extended camping trip of my own, I most definitely would say that I prefer indoors living."
"Where do you guys live?" Kairi asks. "There's probably not much in the way of for-sale property around here."
"We've moved into the old treehouse," Tarzan explains. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary nod. They all recall the structure very well. "It's much nicer than the camp and, well… It was built by my parents. It helps me feel more… Um, what's the word again? Jane?"
"I believe you were trying to say that living in that treehouse makes you feel connected to your parents," the wild man's wife says. "And, on top of all that, it is rather well put-together. Especially considering what they had to work with. Not Buckingham Palace, but a good home."
"Our camp's just up ahead," Telary points out.
"So close to Opar?" Jane asks, sounding a little worried.
"Well, we didn't know there was a leopard-man city ruled by a jealous witch queen around when we picked it," Azlyn mutters defensively.
"If you'd like, you can stay with us," Tarzan offers.
The group mulls that over for a minute, but Sora interrupts before any consensus can be reached.
"We'll be fine!" the Keybearer declares, shrugging confidently. "Everything's almost ready anyway, and we wouldn't want to haul all that stuff… It's fine."
"Okay," Tarzan relents after a moment. "I guess you know how to handle yourselves."
"But do come and visit before you leave," Jane offers, smiling radiantly. "No offense to Tarzan, but having occasion to speak to a few more human beings would be a welcome experience."
The gorilla grunts something up at Jane, and she grunts right back. It seems that language lessons have run both ways in her and Tarzan's marriage.
They part ways a few minutes later, promising to catch up two days later, before Sora and company depart. Azlyn and Telary lead the offworlder group through the jungle, Riku trailing behind. Sora and Kairi walk behind their old friend.
"What was that back there? Kairi asks her boyfriend. Off his skeptical look, she elaborates. "Sticking to this campsite. It sounded like you had some ulterior motive."
Sora frowns. "Kairi, that's gross! But actually there was another reason I wanted to stay here."
Kairi sighs, used to this occasional cluelessness by now. "Okay. What exactly was that?"
"Do you know why I made so many friends, Kairi?" the Keyblade master asks. When Kairi only sighs and shakes her head, he answers his own question. "Because we were thrown together into dangerous situations. If there's a ruined city nearby, full of crazy leopard guys. You just know something's gonna happen. And when it does, bam! Telary and Riku work together, discover they can be best friends too, and suddenly everything is right as rain in the universe!"
Kairi says nothing, honestly a little too dumbstruck to respond. It seldom fails to surprise her, Sora's own unique brand of insight and savvy. You have to really know what you're looking for to spot it, but it exists all the same.
They return to their campsite, still half-made and unperturbed.
"Well, that was fun!" Telary says with his usual forced cheer. "Time to get serious about camping though. Now, where did I put those tent instructions."
Rolling his eyes, Riku sighs loudly. Sora catches it out of the corner of his eye, smirking to himself. Soon, he thinks, all will proceed according to his plan.
The Keybearer shudders a bit at his inner monologue. He'd better be careful, or he might start sounding like Maleficent.
KH-KH-KH
In the grand throne room of her elaborate ziggurat, Queen La sits in her throne. Attended to by a group of leopard-men, she plots and schemes.
"A very interesting boy, that one," she says. Ostensibly she's speaking to her servants, but in reality she just enjoys a good villainous monologue. "So powerful, and not just with that blade. He made fools of you all. Why, even Tarzan had more trouble!" Standing up, she makes a resounding proclamation. "I must have him!"
Two leopard-men give each other knowing looks. If they had the capacity, they'd be rolling their eyes.
"Oh," says a female voice, echoing all around the chamber but seeming to come from nowhere, "but you can."
Green flames appear in the midst of the chamber, on the long stone walkway that cuts through the throne room's shallow pond. La shield her eyes, and her vision finally adjusts, she sees that someone new has entered her chamber. A woman in purple and black, with jade-green skin. A raven perches on her shoulder.
"Who are you?" La demands, gripping her magical staff warily. All around her, the leopard-men tense. "Why have you come?"
"My name is Maleficent," the robed witch answers, stroking lightly at her own mystical staff. "And I believe we may have something to gain from mutual cooperation."
Ever so slightly, La back down. Raising a white eyebrow, she steps away from her throne. "An interesting prospect, to be sure. I'm listening."
I'm back, I'm okay, I'm alive! Sorry this took so long, guys. I just hadn't planned it quite as well a I initially thought, and had to make a lot of changes to the overall plot. Plus, hey, life keeps on happening whether you want it to or not, huh?
Shoutout to Bezerker21 for his review on the last chapter (and all his reviews of the last story). This fic hasn't produced quite the turnout of my others, but that's the price you pay when you advertise that you're ignoring the rest of the canon to pursue your own idea.
Oh, and for those of you not in the know, feel free to check out Keys to the Kingdom: Chain of Memories. I'm running that one alongside this fic. Okay, that's all I have to say, really. Until next time!