And we're back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 38!
No matter how hard I try, I just can't force myself to put this freaking update cycle back on schedule…This thing should be getting updates Tuesday or Wednesday night…
I absolutely did replace the wrong chapter by accident, but I fixed it.
Thanks to the people who explained the light to darkness ratio thing.
Trying something a little different for the music in the fight scene.
Dark Natsu Dragneel: I'm going to make it so there are the same number of main keyblade wielders, but with the addition of other ones. There used to be a bunch more, after all.
Kairitrion Cerulean: That's what I was thinking. It makes sense for there to be more. And as it gets later into the night, more and more mistakes slip through the proofreading. :P Thanks for pointing that out!
prototype gear: If you've been here that long, then it must have been around week two or something…Back when I was stupid enough to actually do daily updates of this length. And cultured tastes my ass! How the hell is shitty rapping cultured?!
keyblade master cole: That's the plan.
redlox2: The Riku thing is a whole pain in the ass I still need to flesh out. And yeah, the ones not captured are the same ones.
risengaku: I'm not sure if I jinxed it, but HeartlessNobody13 beat you out for review length this time (That's not a challenge to make an even longer one!). Why should I ruin a perfectly good running gag? Natsu will get sick again (I may not write it every time though). Glider and Armor…Well, don't expect good designs from me. And no, Nox is not one of the multiverse developments. Blast away 3 was too serious for that scene. Blast away 1 had more of a light hearted feel to it.
HeartlessNobody13: That pretty much follows my train of thought. I don't see the point of just having the number of keyblade wielders they had in the game. Why not add more as support or something? That's a big reason for why I'm doing that. And I don't think Jack has the potential…After all, Leon also held the Kingdom Key for a bit when he met Sora. Velvet's weapon is OP as hell! …And I like how you're acting like I already confirmed RWBY to be a world.
shadowmwape: Define "team up" please. Work together? Sure. Travel together? Nope.
Anyways, on with the story!
I don't own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or anything else. I'm just a broke college student...
Normal Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Normal Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Biju/Deity Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Biju/Deity Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Scene Change: Insert Place Here
Jutsu/Magic/Technique: Insert Jutsu Here
Last Updated: 3/30/17 (Minor grammar and detail revisions)
"I want to see how I compare against you."
Gray and Naruto just stared dumbly at the weapon in Nox's hand. Both of them were having a little trouble catching up to the fact that another keyblade wielder just showed up out of nowhere and challenged Naruto to a fight to test himself.
"Whoa, you have one of those key thingies too!" Happy exclaimed excitedly.
Nox was amused at their reactions to his keyblade. "Hello~? You still there?" He called. "Was that too much for you?"
It was at that point that Naruto and Gray finally caught up to what was happening. "You're a keyblade wielder." Naruto said quietly, but it was more to himself than to Nox.
Despite realizing this, Nox rolled his eyes and began to twirl his keyblade around in a nonchalant manner. "No way? I didn't realize." His smirk returned as he finished twirling his keyblade and pointed it at Naruto again. "Yes, I'm a keyblade wielder, just as you are. Now enough of this, I wanna fight."
Naruto blinked, finally registering the request. Quickly shaking his head, he gave Nox a wary look. "Hold on. Why should we fight? I have no reason to fight you!"
"Too bad!" Nox grinned wildly. "I have been waiting for a chance like this to come by. I'm not letting it slip!"
"But-" Naruto was interrupted when a hand abruptly thumped him roughly on the back.
"Come on, Naruto!" Naruto turned and glared at the grinning Natsu. "He challenged you to a fight! That means you have to accept!"
"Sorry, but I don't see how one leads to the other." Naruto muttered.
"That's okay." Happy glided over to his other side. "You don't have to understand it, just go with it!" Natsu nodded in agreement.
"Like I said, I-"
"He accepts!" Natsu said to Nox, ignoring Naruto completely.
"I never said I did!" Naruto snapped. "I don't want to fight him."
Gray sighed. "Just go with it, Naruto…" He said. "If you don't, then we will have to deal with these two whining about it for days."
Naruto scowled and considered his options. After a minute, his scowl deepened. "Fine…" He said, earning an even wider grin from Nox, who had been watching the entertainment silently.
"Awesome!" Nox slid into a battle stance, prompting Naruto to do the same as the Fairy Tail members walked off to the side. The two combatants stared at each other, waiting for the silent signal to start.
Play Pokémon ORAS OST: Battle! Rival - Extended
"Show me what you've got!" Nox ordered before he raised a hand above him. "Aerora!" Spiraling wind appeared around Nox, who immediately followed up with a dash at Naruto, making his eyes widen in shock at the speed.
Not hesitating, Naruto shot his keyblade up and parried the strike, but Nox seemed to be expecting such a thing because his leg was already in motion in a direct path to Naruto's chest. Nox blinked in slight surprise when Naruto was still able to block his attack and he jumped back. "Didn't think you would be able to block that…" He admitted.
Smirking, Naruto shrugged. "You nearly had me. Using Aerora to boost your speed is similar to something a friend of mine does in battle."
"Oh, is that right?" Nox's grin returned. "Then I'll just have try harder to catch you off guard!" He rushed in again with a downward slash. Naruto sidestepped the attack and lashed his keyblade at Nox, who didn't even bat an eye as he titled his head out of the way. "Tornado!" Naruto wasn't prepared for a violent gust of wind to form and launch him high into the air, all the while blades of wind simultaneously cut into his body.
Gritting his teeth, Naruto flipped into an upright position and looked back down, only to not see Nox anywhere in sight. Mental alarms blaring, Naruto pivoted his body and raised his keyblade, only barely managing to get it up in time to intercept Nox's attack. 'Okay, so he is even faster than I thought…' Naruto smirked. "Shadowbreaker!" Nox was expecting some sort of attack, so he was able to save himself from harm from the light imbued slash, but he was hit by the second slash filled with darkness.
"Wha-?!" Nox was launched back into a wall as Naruto fell back into the ground. He knew that something like that wouldn't be enough to put the redhead down, so he was unsurprised when Nox landed on his feet a moment later, wide eyes fixed on Naruto. "Darkness?! Are you serious?!" Naruto shrugged with a smile, earning another grin from Nox. "Awesome! I knew I wasn't the only one!"
Naruto's jaw dropped a bit.
"What?" He whispered, but Nox didn't seem to hear him.
"I knew other keyblade wielders would see that learning some darkness techniques was worth it!" His eyes practically glowed with excitement. "And you seem way better than I am at balancing it with the light!"
'Oh, so he just knows some darkness techniques, but he of course can't balance his darkness and light perfectly…'
Nox slid into a battle stance again. "Let me show you what I can do!" He swung his keyblade in a wide arc. "Dark Firaga!" A volley of darkness coated fireballs launched at Naruto, with Nox moving a step behind the attack.
Tracking each fireball, Naruto dodged, ducked, dipped, dove, and dodged through the assault until he found himself face to face with Nox. A metallic clang rang through the back streets and sparks flew when keyblade met keyblade. The two of them were thrown into a rapid flurry of attacks and blocks as they attempted to land a hit on each other. Nox's speed boost from his starting spell had worn off, so they were now roughly even in speed.
Rolling under a horizontal strike, Naruto sprang back to his feet and attacked. Naruto grinned in satisfaction when his attack earned him a pained grunt from Nox. Not letting up, Naruto brought his keyblade back. "Aerial Slam!" The slash from below was stopped cold when Nox's Keyblade stopped it.
Nox and Naruto's eyes met each other, and Naruto was surprised to see the joy in Nox's eyes.
"I think I've got you figured out…" Nox began. "I'm sure that while you can perform spells, you prefer to use actual keyblade techniques, right?" Naruto's eye twitched at the accurate assessment. "It works for you." Nox admitted. "You're both fast enough and strong enough for it to be effective. Me on the other hand…" His grin grew, making Naruto tense. "Like I said, I'm pretty decent at magic." Not giving Naruto the chance to gain some distance, he attacked. "Fira!"
Naruto's eyes widened in shock when fireballs formed around the two of them, without Nox even moving his keyblade or hands. 'He can use spells without moving?!' Even he wasn't able to yet use any spells without at least pointing a hand at the target! Naruto cursed and hastily disengaged his keyblade to jump back while batting away the fireballs streaking towards him.
Using the chance, Nox pointed his keyblade at Naruto. "Blizzara! Aerora! Triple Plasma!" Blasts of ice, wind, and electricity rocketed towards Naruto.
'Damn it!' Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to move out of the way in time, he brought his keyblade up into a defensive position in front of him. "Reflera!" A barrier of light appeared around Naruto, forming just in time to stop the onslaught of spells. Naruto buckled a bit under the pressure of the attacks, but he poured more power into the spell, allowing it to last. 'So glad I bothered to learn some more defensive spells.'
"Hey, so you do know some spells!" Nox shouted in joy. "That was a pretty good barrier!"
The crimson blond glared at Nox. "Enough…" He muttered. Crouching, he pulled on some twilight. "Sonic Blade." Nox's eyes widened when Naruto blurred out of sight in a burst of speed. His whereabouts soon became known again when a leg impacted his back, followed by a keyblade cutting into his side, and then another strike from above.
Nox was relentlessly knocked around until Naruto finally launched him away. His body flew towards the waterway, and he was only barely able to adjust himself in time to land on his feet. Wincing, he gently rested a hand on his side. "Okay…That hurt…" Despite this, his grin was still there.
Naruto smirked at Nox and slid back into a battle stance. "What, are you done?"
"Ha! No way! I'm still good to go!" Nox proclaimed with a battle stance of his own. It was at that point that Naruto noticed that Nox was standing in front of the waterway, giving him an idea.
Smirk growing, Naruto brought his keyblade back before pushing all of his strength into hurling it. "Spark Raid!" Without wasting any time, Naruto began to flash through hand seals while Nox was focused on knocking the keyblade high into the air and intercepting the beams of light that came out of it.
Blocking the last beam of light, Nox turned his eyes back to Naruto. "Was that the best you can d-?!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Nox's eyebrows bunched together. "What?" That didn't sound like a spell. Suddenly, movement behind him made him spin around and prepare himself, but he was caught completely off guard by the large dragon made of water lunging at him. "The hell?!"
"A dragon!" Natsu shouted in glee.
"Gah!" The water dragon lunged at Nox and completely engulfed him.
'I'm not done yet!' Naruto thrust a hand forward. "Thundaga Shot!" The surge of electricity was added to the water, making the pain Nox was feeling intensify. They all watched as the water dragon continued moving until it collided against a nearby wall. Not letting his guard down, Naruto recalled his keyblade and moved back into a battle stance.
Soon, the raging water died down, leaving by a soaked and injured Nox. With the force of the water not keeping him up anymore, Nox's body started to fall. Despite taking the combo of the water dragon and the spell that was added to it, Nox was still able to land safely on his feet, although he looked injured.
Wincing, he looked to Naruto. "Never been hit with a technique like that before…" He said.
Naruto smirked. "Would have been surprised if you had. It's something from my world, meaning it wasn't a spell."
Nox grinned. "Oh, so now we're using trump cards that the opponent couldn't mimic? Well why didn't you say so?" Naruto's smirk fell. "Now I'm really pumped!" He tossed his keyblade into the air. Naruto, not knowing what to expect, was surprised when the keyblade disappeared in a flash of light, leaving something entirely different behind.
In the keyblade's place was a winged waveboard. The glider looked to be designed after Nox's keyblade, as most of it was colored blue with various moons and stars on it. The wings of the waveboard were the same as the teeth of the keyblade where they were crescent moons with stars inside, while the front of the waveboard was shaped like a star.
Hopping on in the manner one would a skateboard, Nox's grin grew when he saw Naruto's expression. "So I'm guessing I was right to assume that you have never seen a keyblade glider?"
Naruto eyed the glider. He has seen them before, but only ever back when he still had dreams of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. Nox's keyblade glider looked to be the same kind as the one Ventus used, but designed after a different keyblade.
"Well whatever! Try to keep up now!" Nox rocketed towards Naruto. Alarmed, Naruto dove to the side to avoid him. Turning on a dime, Nox steered the glider to the side and thrust a hand out. "Fira!" He put on a burst of speed and pushed down on the back of the glider to make it jump. Once he was above Naruto, he pointed a hand at him again. "Blizarra!"
Back on the ground, Naruto batted the fireball away, but was not able to completely get out of the way of the follow up spell. Gritting his teeth, Naruto whirled around and saw that Nox was now back over by the water. He raised his keyblade. "Thunder!" Nox was long gone by the time the lightning bolt came down.
Nox laughed excitedly. "Come on! You're gonna have to move faster than that!" He performed a flip to avoid another attack. "You almost got me that time!" Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the taunting. "Should I slow down a bit?!" Nox launched more spells.
'Oh, I'm gonna enjoy kicking his ass…' Forming a plan, Naruto smirked. Tracking the oncoming fireball, Naruto raised a hand towards it. "Fira!" Nox frowned in confusion when Naruto countered his fireball with one of his own, creating an even larger explosion between them and encasing the entire area in smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Naruto was still standing there, but he was panting from all of the fighting. Nox tried not to show it, but he wasn't that much better off after throwing around so many spells.
"You ready to give up?" Nox called.
"Nope. You?" Naruto's question made Nox's grin return.
"Never!"
Naruto matched Nox's grin. "Good! Otherwise this next part would have been pointless!" Nox blinked in confusion.
"Next part?" The question was answered a second later.
"Spark Dive!" Nox's head snapped up at the shout and he was greeted with the sight of another Naruto diving towards him from above with electricity coating him. Not wasting any further time on thinking, he urged his glider to the side while dispelling the clone with a fireball. "Fire Strike!" Startled, Nox made the glider lurch out of the way, barely managing to avoid a flaming slash from another Naruto. Like the other, this clone was also taken out by a spell.
"Ha! You almost fooled me!"
"No, I'm pretty sure I did get you." Nox looked up just in time to see another Naruto a few feet in the air above him. "Strike Raid!" Naruto hurled his keyblade down at Nox while falling.
Acting hastily, Nox raised a barrier and parried the blow. Eyes widening at the chance, Nox smirked and lashed out a hand to grab the keyblade. Now armed with Naruto's keyblade, Nox spoke up. "You lost your keyblade and I can counter any spell you dish out, give up!" He moved to the side as Naruto landed next to him.
He was not expecting what happened next.
"I don't need my keyblade or spells." Nox's eyes widened when a blue spiraling orb thrust into his gut. "Rasengan!"
"Argh!" Nox let go of Naruto's keyblade as he was launched back and into the water by the force of the attack.
Smirking widely, Naruto caught his keyblade. "I already told you that I have techniques from my world."
"And I can't believe I forgot about that." Startled, Naruto spun around to see Nox standing behind him with an annoyed look. "That would have sucked if I was actually hit…" Naruto glanced back over to the water to see that the Nox that was hit wasn't there anymore. Looking at the boy again, Naruto saw he was grinning widely. "What, you think that you were the only one to use that smoke as a cover? Or the only one able to create a replica?" He rolled his eyes. "Dream on."
Shrugging, Naruto grinned. "I admit that I didn't think of it." He gestured to the glider at his feet. "But I would say that I still won, wouldn't you?"
Nox matched the grin with one of his own. "Nah, I wouldn't." Naruto blinked and watched as Nox moved a hand to the armor on his shoulder. "Just as you have other trump cards to use, so do I." Naruto tensed and prepared himself. "But…I think I've seen enough." Nox dropped his hand back down.
End Music
Naruto stared. "Huh?"
"What?! But it was just getting good!" Natsu shouted.
Nox shrugged. "I saw enough to get the idea. The only reason I challenged him was because I wanted so see how I compared, remember? I'm sure that there was more he could have dished out, but the same goes for me." He nodded. "Thanks for the fight!"
After staring at him for a minute, Naruto nodded back. "…No problem…" He relaxed. "I enjoyed it."
"Good! Because we will absolutely be doing it again sometime!"
"…What?" Did he hear that right? "We will?"
"Well, of course we will!" Nox said as if it was obvious. "I'm gonna challenge you again so that we can see how much stronger we become over time." He explained as the Fairy Tail members joined them.
"Hey, I'm always good for a fight!" Natsu said.
Nox took one glance at him before waving. "Nah, I don't see a point in fighting you."
"What?!"
"Yeah, I just want to fight other keyblade wielders." Nox said. "I'm sure you're strong, but I don't want to fight you." Natsu scowled. "Speaking of keyblades…" Nox walked over to the glider and reached out a hand. In a flash, his keyblade reappeared in the hand. "There we go…"
Naruto frowned. "Where did get the ability to turn your keyblade into a glider?" He asked.
Blinking, Nox turned to him. "The old geez-I mean from my master." He tilted his head. "Where else?"
"You're apprenticed to a keyblade master?!" There were still masters around?!
"Yeah…?" Nox said slowly. "I'm not sure of how many are left, but there are apparently at least two if you're here…" He frowned. "Why is that so surprising? Aren't you apprenticed to a master?"
A small grimace pulled at Naruto's face. "…I guess so…"
"Then it shouldn't be a surprise!" Nox said with a smile. "The ge-master is the one who made me learn so many spells. It's what he specializes in, so he forced it on me." His eyes turned distant. "…Training was painful…" He said quietly.
Not knowing what was wrong with him, Naruto traded looks with the others. "…Right. Anyways, what are you doing on this world?" Naruto's question pulled Nox out his past trauma. "If you're apprenticed, shouldn't you be on your master's home world?"
Nox smirked. "I can ask you the same thing." Naruto rolled his eyes. "If you must know, my master was concerned about all the worlds getting consumed by the darkness, so he tasked me with going between worlds to lock the keyholes. I assume yours did the same?"
"Pretty much, yeah." That much was true.
"Sweet! Then that's another thing we can do whenever we meet!"
"Uh…" Naruto was confused by what Nox meant this time. "What is?"
"We can compare how many keyholes we've locked!" Nox proclaimed. "Not only do we do our tasks, but we can also see who is doing a better job! It's perfect!"
"Are you su-"
"Fine! Naruto will lock way more than you will!" Natsu interrupted.
"No way he can keep up with me!" Nox shouted back. "I'll lock three by the time you get one!"
Happy chose that moment to join in. "Naruto will win!" Naruto sighed as the three of them descended into bickering.
"You guys…" A hand on his shoulder made him look over.
Gray gave him a shake of the head. "Ignore the idiots. Just let them argue like little kids."
"…You're missing your clothes again."
"What the hell?!" Gray ran off to find them.
'Is it a curse?' There had to be someone messing with him.
Nox spun around and pointed a finger at Naruto dramatically. "I'll show you! I'll show you how awesome I am by the sheer number of keyholes I lock!"
"…Fine. We can compare next time we meet." Naruto allowed.
"Then it's official." Nox agreed. He dismissed his keyblade. "Just don't be disappointed when you lose. It's hard being on my level."
Naruto snorted. "Modest, aren't you?"
"Well, I try to be." Nox replied. Suddenly, a beeping sound started to come from Nox. While Naruto, Happy, Gray, and Natsu grew confused, Nox's eyes widened in panic. "Crap! I gotta go!" Naruto frowned.
"Something wrong?"
"Yeah, I'm late!" Nox turned and started rushing towards the exit of the back street. "Sorry, but I'm outta here! See you whenever!"
They stared after him. "…What was that about?" Gray asked as he walked up to them, now fully clothed.
"He's crazy. Who knows what goes on inside the mind of a crazy person?" Happy answered easily.
"Yeah, because you're completely sane." Naruto muttered. Shaking his head, he spoke up. "Whatever. I'm tired and want to get out of here. Are we all ready to go?" He got nods. "Awesome. Then let's get back to the first district so we can talk to that Cid guy…" He began to make his way towards the exit.
Gray frowned. "…Hey, Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"Do all keyblade wielders have different keyblades?" His question made Naruto frown.
"I'm…not sure. I'm fairly certain that we all have different keyblades when we summon them for the first time, depending on who we are as a person…But I'm not sure that there aren't any keychains that could turn a keyblade into a form naturally wielded by someone else."
"What does that mean? Keychains?"
Naruto blinked. "Oh, you don't know…" Naruto muttered. "There are keychains out there that can be used to make a keyblade take on a different form." He said. "These new forms come with different strengths and weaknesses. I'm willing to bet that Nox's master gave him a keychain that would make his keyblade take on that form. It would explain the sheer number of spells that Nox was throwing around…"
Natsu tilted his head. "Where do you get a keychain?" Naruto shrugged.
"Besides from another person that already has one? I have no idea. I'm already lucky with the one I have." All eyes turned to him.
"You have one?" Gray asked curiously.
"Yep. I got it a while back, but I only recently found out what it was."
"What does it boost?" Happy asked. "Oh! Is it your height? You're pretty short!" Naruto twitched and swiped a hand at the flying cat, but he missed.
"No, you stupid furball." He growled. "It doesn't."
Natsu grinned. "Then what does it do?" Naruto smirked.
"Nope. No spoilers." He was still annoyed with the pink haired teen, so why should he tell him?
First District
The four of them stopped outside of a shop in the first district. Taking a quick glance around, Naruto spoke up. "That woman said that this was the shop...How exactly should we go about this? Walk in and ask for information?" Gray frowned as he considered the question.
"Hey! Tell us where our friends are!"
"Aye!"
Naruto grit his teeth and closed his eyes. 'That was stupid of me...' What was he thinking? Of course Natsu would make the decision pointless. The fire dragon slayer shouted the demand and kicked the front door of the shop open before storming inside.
"Ow!" A voice yelled. It seemed that someone had been standing in front of the door and was about to open it when Natsu acted. "The heck was that for?!"
"Tell us where our friends are!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Naruto and Gray rushed inside to see Natsu gripping a boy by the front of his jacket and shaking him wildly. Naruto could practically see the boy's eyes turn into swirls as the shaking continued. "Let go!" The boy yelped.
"Gawrsh! Sora!"
A loud squawk was heard from nearby. "Who're you people?!"
The man behind the counter of the shop sighed. "Why does this have to happen in my shop?"
Acting quickly, Naruto and Gray lunged forward and grabbed Natsu before dragging him away from the boy. "What the hell are you doing, moron?!" Gray yelled.
"Naruto said that he knows where are friends are!"
"No, I said that Cid, the shop owner, might know something!" Naruto corrected as they pulled Natsu to the other side of the room. "Not some teen who happens to be here-ttebayo!"
Natsu stopped struggling and blinked with wide eyes. "Oh..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "My bad…"
The boy clutched his chest and cast a wary glance at Natsu, but he soon lost the look and replaced it with a smile. "It's fine. You were just concerned for your friends." The boy blinked in recognition. "Hey, you're those guys that ran into the heartless infested areas earlier!"
It was at that point that Naruto recognized the boy. "Oh, it's you." He grinned. "Thanks again for that warning, by the way." The boy laughed and waved a hand in dismissal.
"No problem. I'm just glad to see you guys are alright!" He placed his hands behind his head. "I know you said you would be, but I still wasn't sure…" They were distracted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning, Naruto was not expecting to see a humanoid duck glaring suspiciously at him.
The duck had white feathers and a yellow-orange bill, but that was where most of the normal duck features ended. Not only was the duck the size of a human, it was also wearing some clothes. The duck's clothes consisted of a blue hat that looked like a beret and had a zipper going along it and a navy blue high collared jacket with sky blue lining and pouches. Around each wrist of the duck was a golden bangle, and draped over his shoulders was a short, blue cape.
It seemed the duck didn't appreciate Naruto gaping at him because he is glare turned harsher. "What?!" This proved to be enough to snap Naruto out of it.
"Oh, uh…Sorry about that." He apologized. "I just was caught a little...off guard by your appearance." That just seemed to make the duck angrier.
"And what is that supposed to mean?!" He squawked. Wincing, Naruto realized how that may have come across. Luckily, it seemed that the duck's companion was willing to rescue Naruto from the duck's temper.
"Aw, he didn't mean nothin' by that, Donald. You have to admit that we do stand out a bit…" The duck was still glaring, but he seemed to calm a bit at those words.
Sighing in relief, Naruto turned to the one who had spoken, this time making sure to control his reaction.
The one who had assisted Naruto was a humanoid...dog(?) with dark fur, droopy ears, bucked teeth, and three short hairs. The dog(?) was wearing an orange hat with a blue band and a pair of small red goggles going around it. The dog(?) also had on a green turtleneck sweater with blue arrow-shaped straps on each cuff. Over the sweater, he wore a sleeveless, black combat vest with grey lining. Unlike the duck, the dog(?) wore yellow pants secured by a black belt and large, brown, steel-toed shoes. Completing the look was a pair of white gloves over his hands.
The dog(?) gave Naruto a friendly smile. "Sorry about Donald, he's just a little grumpy 'cause he forgot we needed to stock up before we leave."
"I did not! You forgot!" The duck, Donald, shouted.
"Hyuck, was that what happened?" Donald threw his hands up in frustration and proceeded to berate the dog(?).
Laughing nervously, the boy spoke up. "Sorry about them…"
Naruto shook his head. "No worries. You forgave us for him," He nodded towards Natsu, who looked away with a nervous expression while attempting to whistle. "so it's only fair we do the same." The boy smiled. "I'm Naruto. These are my friends, Gray," Gray nodded. "Happy,"
"Hi!"
"and Natsu." Natsu grinned.
Mirroring the grin, the boy introduced himself. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sora."
Sora looked to be a little older than Naruto. He had spiky brown hair and blue eyes. His outfit was made up of large yellow shoes, a white and black jacket over a red jumpsuit, and a pair of white with yellow gloves. Naruto's eyes lingered on the silver chain necklace Sora had on. It was extremely similar to the Naruto had on, except it had a crown instead of a heart.
Not noticing Naruto's distracted state, Sora continued. "And these are Donald and Goofy." He gestured to the indicated humanoid animals. Snapping out of the trance, Naruto shook his head a bit.
"And I'm annoyed." A gruff voice interrupted. "Now you mind telling me what you lot think you're doin' making all this noise?"
'Oh, right…' Naruto almost forgot that the man behind the counter was still here.
The man had short blond hair, blue eyes, and some stubble on his chin. He wore a white shirt with two buttons, baggy blue pants with an orange waistband, and black shoes. Sticking out of his mouth was a toothpick.
The man, who Naruto assumed to be Cid, glared at them while crossing his arms. "The racket you're making is gonna scare away all of my customers." He shot Donald a pointed look, making the duck shrink in on himself.
"Sorry…" Donald muttered.
Cid rolled his eyes. "It's fine. Now, you've got your supplies and your ship is all prepped to go, so scram." He made a shooing motion. "Go on, get." Donald huffed at the attitude, but still spun around and marched towards the door.
"Fine! Goofy, Sora, let's go!" He walked out. Laughing, Goofy waved goodbye to the others and followed Donald.
Sora smiled in amusement before looking to Naruto's group. "Well, it was nice meeting you."
Naruto smiled back. "Back at you." Sora began walking towards the door, but paused before stepping out. After a moment, he turned around with a contemplative expression while glancing between them. Tilting his head in confusion, Naruto spoke up. "What's wrong?"
"It's just…" Blue eyes moved to Natsu. "You said you were looking for your friends, right?" A nod made Sora smile sadly. "So am I." He said quietly. "Why don't we help each other out?"
Gray quirked an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, how about I keep an eye out for your friends, and you do the same for mine?" Sora grinned. "If nothing else, we can just pass along the message that we are looking for them."
Natsu grinned widely. "Great idea!"
"Awesome. You first. Who are you looking for?" Sora asked them. "I'll keep an eye out for their names."
The fire dragon slayer nodded. "There's Erza, Lucy, Mirajane, Lisanna, Elfman, Gramps, Juvia…" He began to list all the members of the guild, Happy pitching in a name every few seconds. The long list of names brought a wide-eyed look from Sora.
Deciding to save the boy, Gray interfered. "Moron, stop listing all the names. There's no way he can remember them all." Natsu paused, saw the expression on Sora's face, and smiled sheepishly. "Just look for anyone with this mark." He pointed at Natsu's guild mark. Unnoticed to them, Cid's eyes widened. "If they have this mark, then they are a friend of ours."
Sora sighed in relief and nodded. "Got it." He would be sure to remember the mark. "I just have two people I'm looking for. Their names are Kairi and Riku."
"Kairi and Riku…" Naruto muttered. "We'll remember the names." Sora grinned.
"Thanks!"
"Sora, hurry up!" Donald's voice shouted from outside.
Waving at them, Sora turned to leave. "Sorry, gotta go! Again, it was nice meeting you!" He ran out.
Naruto stared after Sora, even when the boy was gone. 'Why does it feel like…?' He couldn't explain it, but there was something…familiar about Sora.
A hand waving in front of his face made Naruto jerk back in surprise and turn to see Gray staring at him. "What?"
"You were spacing out. Are you alright?" He asked.
Cerulean and violet eyes drifted back to the door, but Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine…" He shook his head to clear his thoughts again and turned to Cid. "So, you're Cid, right?" He got a nod in return.
"That I am. And based on what you were saying, you aren't here to shop, are you?" Naruto shook his head. "Okay then…So what do you want?"
Natsu surged forward. "Where are our friends?!" He demanded. Cid eyed him like he was crazy.
Sighing, Naruto reached out and pulled Natsu back. "Sorry about him. When we entered this town, we were told that you and your friends might be able to help us out. As you can probably tell, we aren't from this world and haven't been here long." Cid snorted.
"You don't exactly blend in."
Ignoring the jab, Naruto continued. "So because of that, we were hoping we could ask you some questions. One of which would be if you have seen anyone with that mark." He pointed to Natsu's shoulder.
Cid hummed in thought. "Is that right…?" He was silent for a moment as he looked them over. "Well, you would be correct in saying that my friends and I may be able to answer some questions. Just let me call them over, they'll probably be here in a few minutes." Naruto nodded in acceptance.
They only had to wait a few minutes before a sudden explosion of smoke was created in the center of the shop. Instantly going on guard, Naruto and the others were about to attack when Cid's voice stopped them. "Yuffie! What have I told you about doing that?!"
"You can't stop greatness, Cid!" A female voice shouted back. Realizing that it wasn't a threat, Naruto lowered his hand as the smoke cleared.
Standing there was a girl with short, black hair and violet eyes. She had on a green tube top with two blue belts holding it up, a yellow scarf, tan shorts, and orange shoes. On her arms were mesh sleeves that disappeared into orange, fingerless gloves.
Yuffie grinned widely at Cid. "It's important that I make a grand entrance when I go places!"
"Like hell it is! Don't pull that crap in my shop!"
She stuck a tongue out at him. "Boo! You and Squall need to lighten up!"
"No, we don't. You just need to realize that some of your antics are unnecessary." A male voice at the door said. "…And my name is Leon."
Standing there was a guy with long, brown hair and blue eyes wearing a black, short-sleeved jacket over a white shirt, silver necklace, black gloves, and black shoes. Going along with the rest of his outfit's color scheme, he also wore black pants. Finishing the outfit were brown belts on his left forearm and around his waist. He also had a scar running across the bridge of his nose.
"Meh…" Yuffie shrugged. "You can say it all you like, but I'll still call you Squall."
Leon stared at her flatly for a minute before turning his eyes to Naruto's group. He didn't say anything to them, only taking in their appearance, but his eyes seemed to stop on Natsu's shoulder. When he finished, he looked at Cid. "You called for us?"
Cid nodded. "Yeah…But wher-"
"Oh! Merlin wanted some help at his place, so we gave it!" Yuffie cut him off. "But we weren't quite done when you called, so…" She trailed off.
"Yeah, I get ya…And don't cut me off!" Cid demanded. Huffing, he spoke to Leon. "This lot wanted to talk to us. Apparently, they have some questions."
"Is that so…" Leon turned to them and crossed his arms. "Well, you are obviously from another world and yet seem to not be out of your depth, so I assume that means you came here by choice?" They nodded. "All right…Then what do you want to know?" Naruto got the feeling that this guy was the leader of the group.
Natsu opened his mouth to speak, but Naruto beat him to it. "You're aware that there has been an increase in the number of heartless recently, right?" Leon nodded silently. "Then that also means that you know about the worlds disappearing…" Another nod. "You have any idea what's causing the problem?"
Leon shook his head. "Sorry, but we aren't sure about it either. We just know that it is something that has been happening more frequently lately."
Naruto sighed. 'Well there goes that plan…'
"Sorry we can't be of any help." Leon said.
"It's no problem…It isn't a surprise, really." Naruto said while glancing to his companions. "We're just going to have to find out somewhere else." Leon frowned minutely.
"Why do you want to know?" His question gained curious looks from them. "What good does you knowing do?"
"Well…We want to know because we're trying to put a stop to it." Naruto told him.
The eyebrows of Leon, Cid, and Yuffie all shot up. "Put a stop to it…" Leon repeated. "But how will you do that? Only the keyblade can lock the keyhole of a world."
Naruto quirked an eyebrow of his own at the singular wording of keyblade. "Yeah? And?" He raised a hand, making Two Become One appear in a flash of twilight. "Problem solved." He smirked at the sight of their dropped jaws.
"The keyblade?!" Yuffie shouted. "But how?! We just saw the keyblade's chosen one, and you're not him! And yours looks different!"
'Oh, they met Nox?' Naruto shook his head with an amused look. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is more than one keyblade." His words stunned them. "In fact, there used to be a whole bunch of us, but now there are only a few." He lowered his keyblade.
Regaining his composure, Leon stared at the keyblade. "This changes things…" He quickly took in Naruto's appearance again. "At least you look more capable…" He muttered. "So, you are going to stop the heartless?"
"More or less, that's the plan." Naruto said. "We just need to figure out what is causing it…Hopefully, we can find something out while we travel between worlds."
Leon nodded. "I wish you luck." His eyes moved to Natsu. "Was there something you wanted to ask?"
"Yeah! Where are our friends?!" Naruto and Gray sighed at Natsu's demand.
"Idiot, you need to explain better than that." Gray rebuked. Looking to Leon, he spoke up. "Our world was recently consumed by the darkness. We were hoping that you would able to tell us if you have seen any of our friends. They would have this mark on them." He pointed to Natsu's shoulder.
"…Someone else with that mark appeared in this world a few months back." Leon said.
Immediately, Natsu was in front of him. "Who?! Who was it?! Where are they now?! Are they alright?!" Leon frowned at the proximity and noise level.
"They weren't hurt. In fact, they-"
"I'm sorry for being late!" All eyes turned to the door as a small body rushed through it. Standing there, was a panting girl. "Merlin-san needed a lot more help than I thought and then I had trouble finding my way back because I ran ahead of Aerith-san, but Carla helped me find it…I'm sorr-!"
"Wendy!" Natsu and Happy engulfed the girl in a hug, completely cutting her rambling off.
The girl, Wendy, squeaked at the shout before realizing who it was. "Natsu-san! Happy!" She hugged them back. "I'm so happy to see you!"
Gray grinned and walked over to them. "It's good to see you're alright, Wendy. Did you say Carla was with you?"
"She did say that." Naruto was shocked to see another flying cat glide in from behind Wendy, except this one appeared to be female. "I suppose it is nice to see that you bunch are unharmed…"
"Carla!" Happy shouted in joy. He attempted to embrace the cat, but she moved out of the way.
"Tomcat." She greeted.
"…As I was saying, they are still here." Leon finished.
"I think they noticed." Naruto supplied, making the newcomers notice him for the first time.
The female cat eyed him. "And who is this boy?" Wendy gasped at her.
"Carla! Don't be rude!" She hastily broke free of Natsu and bowed to Naruto. "I'm sorry about her."
Naruto sweat dropped. "It's no problem…" He grinned at her. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze!" Wendy blushed and smiled shyly at him.
"N-Nice to meet you. I'm Wendy Marvell, and this is Carla…"
Wendy was a girl who appeared to be Naruto's age. She had long, dark blue hair done into pigtails and brown eyes. Wendy had on a simple pink kimono that only went to her thighs with a black waistband and a small tie over it. She also wore thigh high socks and wing accessories that kept her hair up. On her shoulder was a guild mark identical to the ones that Natsu and Gray had, except her mark was light blue.
"Don't stutter when you introduce yourself!" Carla chided. "And make sure to keep eye contact!"
Carla was a cat that was nearly identical to Happy, except she had white fur, pink ears, and brown eyes. Unlike Happy, she chose to wear a pink top and skirt. Tied around her tail was a pink bow.
"I'm sorry!"
"And stop apologizing for everything!"
Naruto stared dubiously at the pair of them. "Oh, are they at it again?" His attention was drawn by the newest voice.
Standing to the side was a girl with long, brown hair made into braids and green eyes. Her outfit consisted of a pink dress with magenta lining and buttons going down the front. Around her waist was a loose, lilac belt with a black string tied into a bow in the same way that the string around her neck was.
She smiled at Naruto. "Hello, I'm sorry about all the noise. My name is Aerith. It's nice to meet you."
Naruto smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Naruto. And no worries, it isn't that bad." He has spent years dealing with people who are worse.
A few minutes later, the people who had just joined them were fully brought up to speed. Wendy looked at Naruto with awed eyes. "So you're one of those keyblade wielders? But you look to be my age! That's amazing!" She had been so disappointed that she didn't get the chance to meet the other one!
"Hmph. It's just a giant key…" Cid muttered.
"So Wendy, what have you and Carla been doing here?" Gray asked. "You've been here for the last two months, right?"
She nodded. "Yes. Carla and I woke up in this world two months ago…Apparently, Aerith-san found us passed out in the street. After being told what was going on, she let us stay with them!" Wendy said with a smile. "But it wouldn't be right of us to not do anything, so we've been helping out with fighting off the heartless!"
Yuffie appeared next to Wendy with an arm around her shoulders. "And what a help it's been. She's saved our butts a bunch of times with her magic!" Her praise made Wendy blush again. "Just ask Squall!"
"…It's Leon…Her magic has been a great help to us. She has earned her spot in the group." Leon said, further making Wendy blush. Ignoring the blush, Leon stared at Wendy. "So what will you do now?"
Wendy blinked at him. "Eh?"
"Will you and Carla stay here and continue to help us?" He gestured to Naruto. "Or will you travel with the keyblade wielder and save worlds while possibly finding more of your friends along the way?" Wendy's eyes widened in alarm.
"Uh, I…I want to…" She stammered.
"Squall!" Yuffie shouted in anger. "What are you doing?!" Cid frowned at Leon's words, but he remained silent.
"They need to decide, Yuffie." Leon replied.
Natsu grinned. "Of course she is going to co-" Gray's hand covering his mouth forced him to stop speaking. Seeing this, Naruto did the same to Happy. Glaring, Natsu turned to Gray, but he paused when he saw the serious look the ice mage had. Wendy looked between the people in the room in an attempt to find some help, but even Carla didn't offer any. After a minute, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I…I want to stay here!" She declared, making Leon smirk and Carla nod in approval.
Eyes widening, Natsu freed himself from Gray. "But why?! Why not come with us?!"
Wendy gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry, Natsu-san…But I would only slow you down at this point."
"No you wouldn't!" Happy denied tearfully.
"I'm happy that you say that, but you don't need me for this." Wendy said quietly. "You guys are going to go save the worlds. I'm sure that I can heal you a bit, or maybe even fight, but I don't think I would make a difference." She gained a determined look. "But here, I do make a difference. I see the smiles people give me as I walk by and I hear their thanks when I help them. I know that I'm needed here more than with you." She smiled again. "I'm sorry, but they need my help more than you do."
They were silent for a minute, but Natsu soon broke it with a sigh. "Well, when you say it like that…"
Happy nodded. "Then it just makes sense…"
Gray smirked. "Good to see that you're making a difference here, Wendy. It sucks that you don't want to come, but we understand." Natsu and Happy nodded in agreement with smiles, making Wendy's smile grow.
"Yes!" Yuffie cheered and engulfed Wendy in a hug. "You're staying!" She stuck a tongue out at Natsu. "Ha! She likes us better!"
"No she doesn't!" Natsu yelled. "She just knows you need more help than we do!"
"Nope! She absolutely likes us better! Even after only two months!"
"That's not what she said!"
Leon sighed at the shouting as Aerith giggled. Turing to Naruto, Leon spoke up. "Again, I'm sorry we couldn't be more help to you."
Naruto shook his head. "It really isn't a problem. It's not like it changes anything." Glancing back to the argument, Naruto sighed. "We should probably get going." He decided. "I'm worried that Natsu is going to lose his temper and attack." Leon nodded.
"…Good luck out there." Leon said. This time, Naruto wasn't sure if he meant with the danger or his travelling companions.
Gummi Ship (Later)
Play Kingdom Hearts 2 OST: Twinkle in the Sky - Extended
Natsu sighed sadly in his seat. "I get why…But it still sucks that Wendy isn't coming with us…"
Happy nodded sadly. "Aye…"
"Yes, it's sad, but you get why." Gray said. "I'm also a little bummed that she said no, but it was for the best…And probably for more than what she said." Natsu and Happy blinked.
"Huh? Why?"
"Natsu…" Naruto began slowly. "Were you planning to invite all of your friends to come with us?"
The fire dragon slayer nodded. "Yeah."
Naruto sighed. "That never would have worked out." He muttered. "Where would they have stayed? The maximum amount of people we could house is four. There's no way that something like that would have been possible." Natsu and Happy's eyes widened.
"Ahaha…Oh yeah…"
"…I don't understand how that didn't occur to you."
Natsu looked away nervously. "Um…Anyways, where are we going next?!" It was obvious that he was attempting to change the subject, but they all let it go.
Pulling up the map, Naruto spoke up. "We still have to decide. These are our choices right now."
"Oh! Let's go to th-"
"We aren't going somewhere because it looks interesting." Naruto interrupted the blue cat. "Or because it looks like a place where strong people are." Natsu had only gotten far enough to open his mouth. Shaking his head in reluctant amusement, Naruto enlarged a world. "We're heading here next." He told Gray, who nodded.
Happy's eyes lit up. "Ooohh! It's a castle!"
Naruto frowned and looked at the world again. "…It is?"
"Yeah! Just look at it! It's totally a castle!" Naruto wasn't sure that he quite believed Happy, but he still nodded.
"If you say so…"
There we go! All done with Chapter 38!
There, he used jutsu! Now stop pestering me!
I really hate describing designs in words. That glider description was harder than it needed to be and I still did a shitty job. Putting something that isn't a design into words? Sure, I can do that. Hell, I can bullshit it to the point that there are 38 chapters, over 300k words, and I have 500 people who actually seem to like it enough to get emails…What the hell is wrong with you people?
I've been thinking about this for a while…What do I do about honorifics? Should I just drop them? Use titles like Mr. and Ms.? Use them only when I can? I don't care which.
Just realized that Wendy is a viable pairing option…They're actually the same age and everything! I am still leaning towards only crushes and stuff right now though.
I don't care what you call her. In the actual Kingdom Hearts game, her name is Aerith, so that's what I'm using.
Another thing I thought of is how much time passes? I mean does it take a few hours to get between worlds? A few days? How long do they spend on each world?
Last part was a bit rushed, but I can feel my concentration slipping as time moves on. I'm getting tired.
…Castle…? It's pretty obvious…Well, to me it is.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!
Until next time,
Kog6943