So the penultimate chapter of the Pocahontas world and we get some interesting interactions between our characters here. From where we are, I believe I have a pretty good idea of when this fic will end. With that, I hope you enjoy the new chapter and I'll do my best to put out the next one as soon as possible.
Chapter 60
The Tree That Surpassed Time
Neuge approached the container Mickey had pointed out and went inside with him to look. The various metal canisters of different sizes within were wrapped in bubble wrap material, which Neuge did not hesitate tearing through mercilessly with her hands. She placed her hand against one of the canisters and withdrew them before looking at Mickey.
"These canisters are heat-resistant but I have a feeling I know what's in them anyway. You remember the report Sora and Luna submitted to us when they came back? They reported that KRONOS were researching ways to maximize the effect of the Chimera drug which involved spreading it by gas. There was something mentioned about the method of transportation being liquid nitrogen," Neuge said.
"So then inside these canisters have the Chimera formula in them then? But then, the logo on these canisters… it couldn't be, could it?"
Neuge looked at familiar image inscribed on the logo, and though a grin spread across her face, the ramifications of what this meant were deeply present in her mind prompting mostly confusion.
"Xanatos Enterprises. There's really only one corporation I know by that name and I really don't think it exists in this world. Yep, I'd say it's definitely suspicious which raises the question. Is Xanatos involved with KRONOS?"
"Then he's a spy for them? Oh boy! Radiant Garden could be in real danger then. This is gonna break the restoration committee's hearts, especially Leon's," Mickey said.
"Well they're going to have to find out sooner or later. It better be sooner so we can have the authority to investigate them. For now though I think- HEY!" Neuge yelled out as the door to the container closed behind them, sealing them within the complete darkness of the small space. Mickey and Neuge ran towards the door and pushed before pounding on the door.
"Hey, who did this? Let us out! LET US OUT!" Mickey yelled. They both jumped away however as soon as they heard the gravelly laughter of someone Mickey knew quite well.
"HA-HA-HA-HAHAHAHA! Got you now, mousey. I guess you could say I set a nice… mouse trap for ya! Oh, hoh hoh, that was a good one, you gotta admit!"
"Pete, you're here? Then that confirms it. You are delivering these under KRONOS' orders. Tell me, are you working for the Shadow Man?" Mickey asked.
"Now why would I tell you somethin' like that, huh? Think I'm an idiot?"
"So in other words you are working for him, otherwise that name would have raised questions which I'm not hearing. Also yes, I suppose that means you are an idiot," Neuge said.
"D'oh! Well it doesn't matter anyway! Hope you like swimming with the fishes, because you're about to join 'em." Pete's laughter gradually became distant and Mickey called after him to enquire what he meant but to no avail. It did not take long for either of them to find out either. A sudden jolt shook the container and sent Mickey rolling all the way to the back while Neuge quickly recovered by shifting her weight.
"What's happening?" Mickey enquired as he scrambled to get up.
"We're being lifted up, probably by one of the cranes outside. I think I know what he meant by swimming with the fishes," Neuge said. After a few seconds the movement of the container had stopped and Neuge quickly made to summon her Keyblade. She was about to stab through the metal doors when a sudden drop threw her backwards into the wall. A huge splash could be heard outside followed by water seeping in through the gaps of the door and settling underneath their feet.
"Oh no! We're gonna drown! I don't think I've ever told you this but I can't swim!" A panicked Mickey yelled out.
"Oh, shut it, will you? We're not sinking. Containers which are full of cargo like these rarely sink for days on end. That said, if we lose all the air that doesn't really matter. What we need to do is remain calm and get out of here," Neuge said.
"Okay, remain calm…" Mickey said to himself before asking, "Just wondering here but the canisters are safe, right? We don't have to worry about the Chimera drug spreading through the water along with the liquid nitrogen, right?"
Neuge eyed the canisters scattered all across the floor before looking back at Mickey with a nervous smile and saying in a tone completely different from her own, "Alright, let's panic."
With nothing but darkness surrounding them, Mickey carefully felt around, using his feet to detect and step over any canisters before summoning his Keyblade. He was about to use Pearl to blast upon the doors when Neuge quickly stopped him.
"Huh, what is it, Neuge?"
"The canisters. We can't leave them behind. What happens if the drug gets into the water? It could affect the entire water supply for the city," Neuge answered.
"But we can't carry all of these canisters out of here. We're only two people," Mickey replied bleakly.
"A dilemma for sure. It appears Pete isn't as idiotic as I thought. Well if our only choices are to leave without the canisters and risk turning an entire population into Chimera and staying in this container to contain the threat at the expense of our own lives, I know which option I'd rather go for," Neuge said.
"Oh no. You wouldn't…"
"Huh? Way to have faith in me. I was about to say we take the third option. We carry the entire container with us. That's my little lesson for you, your majesty. Whenever you're only presented with two options there is usually always a third," Neuge said. She summoned her Keyblade and pointed it upwards at the top of the container. "Help me in getting the top off, would you? Don't worry, I'm pretty sure water won't come flooding in. Not much anyway."
Mickey nodded and pointed upwards. After agreeing to a spell together, a merged Firaga was enough to blow a large enough hole in the top for Neuge to climb out off. Halfway out of the container, she stopped for a moment to smile. There was something rather refreshing and safe about being in the light of day even though they had only been in the darkness for a few minutes.
"Neuge, hurry up! The canisters are starting to go off!" Mickey yelled below her. Neuge looked down to see white smoke starting to leak out of one of the canisters. Neuge stretched her hand out for Mickey who jumped as high as he could and grabbed onto it with both hands. She pulled him out quickly, something relatively easy to do given his weight being proportional to his height, and with that done tried to figure out where they were. It seemed that they were slowly heading downstream due to the current. Making a snap decision in her mind, she turned to Mickey.
"We have to act quickly. Sorry about this." Neuge grabbed Mickey by the waist quickly and threw struggling mouse onto the riverbank as the container neared it. Neuge jumped soon after and propelled herself forward with an Air Dash, landing only a few feet away from Mickey. She quickly turned and dropped her Keyblade before holding out her hands.
"Magnega!" Neuge yelled out. She instantly felt a sudden invisible weight on her arms and it took all her concentration to keep her arms straight and her legs standing. From afar she could hear Mickey guffaw in delight as the container rose into the sky. Realizing that she had forgotten to breathe in the past few seconds, she inhaled and exhaled out of her nose a few times before beginning to draw the container towards the bank. The magnetic vortex holding the container to it, hovered slowly to Neuge's position, and she didn't need to see it with her eyes to know that the magic was starting to falter. Fortunately, she didn't have to hold onto it any longer as the container safely crossed the threshold that divided the bank and the river. With the last of her strength she made a final push to get the rest of the container onto land and lowered it slowly. When the container touched the ground, Neuge's arms fell limply to the side and she gave into wobbly knees.
Mickey approached her quickly and threw out his arms. "Wow! That was amazing, Neuge. I've never seen anything like that before. You okay?"
"Yeah, just tired is all. Haven't done something like this since my training at the temple," Neuge answered back, rubbing the sweat away from her forehead.
"Y'know, you could have told me about your plan before you did it. Then I might have been able to help, no matter how little it might've been," Mickey said but Neuge dismissed this with a wave of her hand.
"I've was taught from previous experiences to rely only on myself. It's why I usually train Sora and Luna separately, because I know that when it comes down to the most crucial of moments you can only rely on your own strength. In other words, I appreciate the offer but I don't really need your help. Call it a self-inflated ego or whatever you might like but I've long since stopped caring."
"Well, the teamwork thing could use a little improvement but at least I've found something beneath that cold hard exterior of yours. You really do care about helping others," Mickey said.
"Or maybe I just didn't want to find Chimera in drink when I go back to Miguel's bar," Neuge challenged with raised eyebrows. Mickey had seen through her deceptive stare however and smiled.
"If that's what you think. So we oughta head back to Radiant Garden now, dontcha think? They need to know about Xanatos," Mickey said.
Neuge shook her head. "There's no hurry. We have more pressing matters here actually. Don't you want to see who this Shadow Man is?"
"Right, then we should head back to the port," Mickey said.
"It'll likely be heavily guarded now. That's a good thing. If they're about to double the speed at which they unload all the cargo since they know we're here, they'll have to lead us to the Shadow Man at some point. I hope you like stake outs, because we're going all in," Neuge said. Her eyes glazed over the container for a moment before looking up to the sky. "I can't deny that I didn't feel a little my old self back. The adventure and the thrill that comes with it… I've kind of missed it. Maybe I still have some work to do yet."
"What kind of work?" Mickey enquired.
"Something I started working on when I was a teenager. It was a dream that I wanted to make reality until I saw how resistant reality is to change. I wanted to make the world whole again."
As she sat in Pocahontas' boat sailing down the river, Luna was reminded of her own trips out on the Alexandrian Lake with her father. She recounted to Pocahontas how she used to go on fishing trips with him and how on one occasion she almost drowned. She also related the smoother experience provided by Pocahontas' expertise in navigating the calm waters to her experience in Wonderland, when she had rode down the river in a giant teacup. Pocahontas' laugh was soon hearty and genuine that it enticed Luna to tell even more of her wacky stories, and before they knew it they had reached their destination.
The boat entered underneath what was a very large and possibly old willow tree. Luna gently pushed a few of the limply hanging leaves out of her face and popped her head out of the boat to look at the unusual ripples spreading out with consistency of a beating pulse and disturbing the tranquil waters that their journey had previously seen.
'"Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects,'" Luna quoted, sitting back in the boat properly. "My friend Astra once went out of her way to read a book just so she could tell me that quote and she doesn't usually like reading. It just made me feel inspired. It made me feel as if my life was actually in my control and that it had an impact on others. I lacked self-confidence, and Astra made me realize how much I had changed her and her me. See? The ripple effect in all its glory."
"You have good friends. I haven't met Astra but I can hardly imagine you lacking confidence. You're incredibly enthusiastic and lively," Pocahontas said.
"Aw, you're making me blush. Say, why are there ripples in the water anyway and why are they so big? There shouldn't really be anything around here-"
"We've arrived!" Pocahontas' announcement cut through Luna's assessment as if it had been an intentional evasion, or perhaps the timing had been a coincidence. The boat hit the shore and Pocahontas stepped onto the soil and offered a hand for Luna to take. The water was not the only thing that seemed alive tonight, as Luna could hear the energetic sounds of chirping and the occasional whisper of soothing wind.
Luna stopped and looked around. "Did you just hear something?"
"Did you?" Pocahontas asked back.
"Um, no, I guess I must have been imagining things," Luna said. Pocahontas flashed Luna a strange smile that she could have interpreted as knowing more than she was letting on. Pocahontas turned before Luna could make out whether she was seeing things leaving her to abandon her thoughts and follow alongside Pocahontas once more.
Arriving at a stump facing the trunk of the umbrella-like tree, Pocahontas invited Luna to sit down with her. At first Luna seemed rather apprehensive and sceptical of this and it showed in her face, but Pocahontas' own facial features showed no signs of consultation to relieve these doubts and so she sat down anyway.
"So this woman lives all the way out here by herself? It must be lonely. Did she get kicked out of the village or something? Does she have a family? Either way, if I were her I wouldn't want to live all the way out here, that's for sure," Luna said, hoping to find some justification in having just broken a strict curfew made by Pocahontas' father.
"And what exactly is wrong with living here?"
Luna jumped up at the sudden third party's voice and looked around in a panic. It had been the same voice she had thought she had heard in heard in her head only a minute ago. Her eyes darted around until they landed upon the tree and stayed there. For a split second, she had thought she had seen a face on the tree, but it must surely have been her imagination acting up. She needed to focus on finding the source of the voice.
"No, you were right to look there. Remember what I told you? Don't look at the tree with just your eyes. Look deeper than that," Pocahontas said. She stood up and placed her hands on Luna's shoulders, looking fixatedly at the tree. Luna nodded nervously and closed her eyes to slow her breathing. She heard something—echoing and distant at first but becoming more focused and within range by the second. When she opened her eyes, she was met with a giant wooden face beaming at her.
"Hello."
"Aiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Luna screamed and backed away, forgetting that she was on a tree stump. Her foot found nothing for a surface and she couldn't recover in time, ensuring her fall into the water.
"A graceful one, isn't she?" the tree commented sarcastically as Pocahontas helped Luna out of the water.
"It's okay, I'm fine!" The drench Luna affirmed quickly. Not knowing how else to address the tree, she bowed deeply. "I'm sorry for that. You just startled me. It's just that I've never really seen a tree talk before, you understand, so I-"
"Oh, no need to be so formal, child. Relax." And as the tree said this, one of her many branches lifted up Luna's chin and her body before returning to its previous state.
"Luna, this is Grandmother Willow, the woman I was talking about who might be able to help. Grandmother Willow, I'd like you to meet Luna. She's told me a lot of interesting things. Things I did not believe even possible and yet I have dreamed them all the same. She told me about the stars in the sky being worlds completely different from our own and she even wields magic," Pocahontas explained. She then asked, "Grandmother Willow, you've been telling me to follow my dreams for a while. Tell me. Did you know about these other worlds?"
Grandmother Willow regarded Pocahontas with a thoughtful frown. It didn't take long before she conceded to Pocahontas' longing stare for answers.
"Yes, I did. What your friend says is true and she's living proof of it. Luna, let me see your face," Grandmother Willow instructed calmly.
"Yes, ma'am." Luna obeyed and nervously kept her eyes on Grandmother Willow's face as she inspected her with the occasional "hmm" and "I see…" here and there.
"I haven't seen you before, have I?" she asked once she had finished her examination.
"No, ma'am, I wouldn't think so," Luna responded. Grandmother Willow however, continued to stare at her suspiciously, making Luna feel as if jumping back into the water was a viable option.
Eventually the tree's expression relaxed. "My memory must be acting up again. This old noggin' ain't like it used to be, though you can't fault me. People come and go every now and then to visit though they stopped coming a long time ago. The only one that usually comes now is Pocahontas. She's a special child."
"She is. When do you think your last visitor came that wasn't her?" Luna asked.
"Oh, I'd say about a good thousand years ago or so. I've lost count."
"A thousand years? You're that old? I'm pretty sure no tree lives that long, including talking trees, no offence."
"None taken, oh, and I'm probably even older than just a thousand. I honestly couldn't tell you. The good ole' tree that time forgot is what I am," Grandmother Willow said with a chuckle.
"Well, I'm glad you have Pocahontas here to keep you company. I know what it's like to be alone and have no one to talk to and I wouldn't want that for anyone, let alone someone that has lived thousands of years," Luna said.
"You're a good kid," Grandmother Willow praised but looked curious when Luna dropped her smile.
"I'm not sure about that. I'm afraid of myself," Luna said before repeating to the willow tree what she had told Pocahontas behind the village. "Pocahontas told me that you could provide answers, so I thought I could come here and see if you could tell me."
"I am sorry but I cannot tell you who you are. No one really can except for you. There is a saying that goes something like this: 'you're only half the person you were yesterday'. Do you know what that means?" When Luna shook her head, Grandmother Willow smiled and continued. "It means that we can never truly know ourselves. You're by no means a finished product, even once you've become an adult. You're always changing through your experiences and interactions with the world around you. I'm very much sure that the person you were before you met me will be slightly different from the person you'll be when you leave. Now while I can't tell you who you are, I can propose a reason for why you feel like you don't know who you are. It's possible you've seen so many things that you haven't stopped for a moment to take it all in. Do you often find yourself spending your free time worrying about things?"
"Yes. One of my friends, for example. He's in danger at the moment and on top of that, he and his best friend who is also here have been arguing a lot lately over how to handle things. I brought them both and another friend along with me hoping to strengthen their friendship again and it seems to be working so far but that still leaves the people who are after him," Luna said.
"Ah, that explains things then. You spend so much time worrying about others that you forget to look after yourself," Grandmother Willow assessed with a firm nod.
"But isn't looking after my friends a good thing?" Luna asked.
"How can you look after them if you can't look after yourself? Trust me, dear, you'll find the answers you seek in due time. The only things you need to be are as steady as river you just came from and the courage to be strong in the harshest of times, not just for your friends, but yourself. From what I've ascertained of you, you admire your dreams greatly and they've taken you to many places. Just between you, me and Pocahontas, dreams are the stuff reality is made of. Keep following your dreams and you will find yourself."
"Thank you, Grandmother Willow. I'll try," Luna said, before posing her next question more confidently. "There was another thing I wanted to ask. We're looking for a keyhole that leads to the heart of this world. There's this fog or background radiation which has been affecting other worlds lately and it looks this one isn't an exception. We think that the keyholes have something to do with it but we're not sure. Have you seen a keyhole around or heard of one?"
"Now that's a word I haven't heard in a long time," Grandmother Willow said with a fond and nostalgic smile.
"So you know where it is?" Luna asked.
"Know where it is? You're looking at it." Luna's eyes widened as the tree's face disappeared and was replaced by a keyhole of the same size. Luna summoned her Keyblade and was about to direct it at the keyhole when a worried Grandmother Willow's face once again replaced the keyhole.
"Is something wrong?" Pocahontas asked.
"Hmm, there was something in the back of my mind when you mentioned the keyhole but I wasn't sure until just now. I think I was told once by someone that the keyholes must never be sealed," Grandmother Willow answered.
"The keyholes must never be sealed? But the Heartless are after the keyholes, aren't they? So shouldn't we be sealing them?" Luna asked.
"All I can say is that I remember hearing someone saying that. They told me something else too but I can't remember what it was specifically or who mentioned it, just that something terrible would happen if they were sealed."
"Grandmother Willow, you have to try and remember. This is important. If there's something about the keyholes then I need to know about it," Luna said.
Luna could see Grandmother Willow furrowing her wooden brows in thought and then softening as she looked back at Luna. "I'm trying, child, but I just can't remember. It's been so long. Who knows, maybe those words have no weight anymore and I'm worrying over nothing. So what are you going to do?"
"Well I… maybe I should talk with my friends about this and make the decision together. I think it's about time we should be heading back before someone realizes we're missing," Luna said.
"We should, but I have one more thing to ask," Pocahontas said. She proceeded to explain what Luna told her about the Princesses of Heart and her eligibility to become one. She had conveniently left out the part about the risk involved, Luna had noticed. "You once told me that I was destined for great things. Well, now I feel your guidance will be more important than ever. I'm not sure I can decide."
"It is an interesting predicament indeed, and a sudden one. Tell me, Luna, what do you think Pocahontas should do?" Grandmother Willow asked.
"Er, I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask that-"
"Oh, don't be so modest. Go ahead and answer what's in your heart."
"Okay. If I could I would tell her to not get involved but then I can't keep saying that to every person we meet who might fit the criteria. In the end though, I would say you should just pick what's best for you, Pocahontas," Luna answered carefully. She didn't want to persuade or dissuade Pocahontas from whatever her current choice was. It was in these matters that she needed to stay impartial no matter how much she wanted to interfere.
"I'll be sure to sleep and ponder on it then. I have a lot of thinking to do so-"
"Of course. We'll give you as much time as you need," Luna promised. Pocahontas nodded with an appreciate smile and was about to look at Grandmother Willow when a shrill cry pierced the skies. Meeko ran up and cowered behind Luna's leg and Flint quickly covered his ears with his wings, closing his eyes shut tight.
"And what exactly is that awful racket?" Grandmother Willow groaned out.
"The Heartless, maybe? We need to get back to the village, quickly!" Luna said, grabbing hold of Pocahontas' hand.
Sora's attempt at trying to get sleep after staying up for two hours pondering things was rendered meaningless exactly twenty-two seconds after he closed his eyes. He knew the number to be correct because had started counting sheep in his head.
"Sora, wake up! Luna's missing," Kairi said, shaking his shoulders.
"I'm up, I'm up! Ehh, can't even rest for a minute," Sora mumbled, turning over as if he wanted to fall out of his bed on the Gummi Ship to wake himself up properly.
"There's no time for that. Were you listening to what I just said? Luna's gone from her hut!" Kairi said.
"Luna? Maybe she went out for a walk or something," Sora suggested with a yawn.
"I've already searched the village except for the other huts and I couldn't find her. She also changed out of her clothes," Kairi said. This seemed enough to wake Sora fully and he sprung up from the floor, grabbed his jacket from the side of the room and followed Kairi out of the room into the cold night.
"You didn't tell Riku?" Sora asked.
"Er, no. I was kind of hoping we could keep this a small operation…"
Sora nodded. "Uh huh. And the real reason?"
"He was snoring pretty loudly, I couldn't disturb him. Have you ever noticed that he makes a cute frown when he's asleep?" Kairi asked.
"Why no, Kairi. No I haven't and that probably has to do with the fact that I'm a guy. We don't tend to notice those things about other guys," Sora replied a little annoyed.
"So what you mean to say is that if I were the one making a cute face while sleeping, you'd notice?"
Sora appeared slack-jawed for a few seconds, unsure of how to approach Kairi's comment. "Well, now you're just playing games with me."
Kairi giggled and would have made a witty reply had they not arrived at the front gates where two guards were present.
"Is there something wrong?" One of the guards asked. He and his partner were both holding spears in their hands.
"Our friend is missing. You haven't seen her around, have you?" Sora asked. The two men looked at each other with a synchronized questioning raise of the brow before returning their report by way of shaking heads. Sora thanked them before putting his arm around Kairi, turning her around with him and whispering, "Kairi, are you sure you looked everywhere? Maybe she's in one of the huts."
"Why would she be? There's no reason for her to have gone in any of them. Plus, I'm not willing to wake up the entire village just to find her," Kairi whispered back.
"Then how did she get out of the village?" Sora asked. He and Kairi glanced over their shoulders to see the guards staring at them suspiciously. Sora pulled a cheesy grin and motioned for Kairi to follow him.
Kairi made sure they were in far out of the earshot of the guards before returning to normal volume.
"Maybe she got out some other way?"
"Yeah, maybe she flew out, that or… maybe she's in another hut," Sora suggested as if he were pronouncing words to a child. Before Kairi could snap at him, the two spun around upon hearing a piercing scream in the night sky. The scream could not have been human, for it seemed that of a frequency unreachable to anything a human could accomplish.
"Our Heartless?" Kairi asked and Sora gave nod. Despite the guards' warnings to stop, the two hurried past them and set off down the forest trail in the direction of the sound.
They walked deeper and deeper into the woods, until any sight of the village had disappeared. In the forest there was only darkness, the moon now covered by thick and ghostly looking branches, and so Sora and Kairi had to light up there Keyblades in order to see where they were going.
It was when they had started to slow down that Sora had spotted a shadowy figure hiding within the trees, but he was too late to dodge. An arrow, glowing silver and bright, struck Sora in his leg sending him to the ground.
"Sora!" Kairi yelled. She was about to head for him when a silk web hit her from the side and glued her to a tree nearby. Sora looked at Kairi quickly before quickly crawling behind the tree she was attached to. "Sora, are you okay? I can't move."
"Ahh, that was careless of me. Really careless…" Sora hissed as looked down to his left leg's injury. On closer inspection, it became clear that the arrow wasn't really a normal one constructed what Sora would naturally expect an arrow to be made out of. The arrow seemed to be purely made from Light elemental magic instead. Bearing in mind what he was about to experience, Sora gritted his teeth and pulled at the arrow hard and quick. It came out as fast as a screaming Sora could possibly want, and looking back after he had recomposed himself he could see a horrible gash where the arrow had once been.
"Sora, you're not doing a very convincing job of hiding now, are you?" The mysterious person said. Sora laid his head against the back of the tree and frowned. He had heard that voice before somewhere, a long time ago. It was of masculine origin and contained shades of haughtiness and pride behind its calm exterior. Fortunately, the man seemed to want to spare Sora of having to dig up memories for a voice to match. "I won't stand around and watch as the rest of Moira's Crescent make the mistake of turning a blind eye to your constant meddling in other worlds' affairs. I'm not Desiree. I don't play with my food, not that I consider you befitting of said description. Food is generally harmless—you're not."
"Moira's Crescent? You won't get away with this! Sora, run! I'll figure something out to stall for time," Kairi said.
"I'm not leaving you, Kairi. Besides, on this busted leg I wouldn't be able to get far," Sora replied.
Kairi closed her eyes a screwed up her face in concentration. "Curasa."
The familiar green light and sound of chimes caused Sora to look down to his leg to see the wound had been sealed. Along with the familiar effects that he knew restorative magic to possess, there was also something else that was different from any other iteration of cure that he knew. There was something rejuvenating about it, something that made him feel more alert than ever.
"Thanks, that feels great," Sora whispered before shouting. "How did you even find us anyway? I doubt it was by coincidence that you just happened to be in this world when we were."
"Why couldn't it be? Not that it matters," the man said. Sora stood up, summoned his Keyblade and cut through the web from the back of the tree, releasing Kairi on the other side. Sora stayed hugged to the back of the tree however with his eyes in search of any sign of movement.
"Kairi, go and find Luna-"
"I'm not leaving you. We're in this together," Kairi shouted, cutting him short.
"If Luna's out there she could be in danger."
"And you're not?"
"I'll be alright, you know me. I'll think of something," Sora said, flashing a grin that Kairi couldn't see from the other side but could probably still tell from the sound of his voice, he hoped. He then said more seriously, "Kairi, trust me on this, 'kay? I need you to find Luna and make sure she's safe."
"You owe me for this," Kairi said after a while.
"I owe you for this," Sora confirmed. He watched as Kairi ran past him and waited until she was lost in the rows and columns of brown before focusing on the task at hand. He was not going to get another free heal from Kairi and his magic wasn't as nearly as good to heal a wound completely like that. In other words, he was done for if just one arrow hit him.
"Good, now I don't have to hold back. Your mistake, I suppose. I suppose I should introduce myself, for it would be premature of me. The name's Alfonso." As he said his name, he released an arrow from his Keyblade transformed bow which hit the tree covering Sora. Completely unexpected, Sora was suddenly blown out of cover by a powerful explosion. Sora let out a gasp as his body was thrown backwards and he hit the forest floor. When he forced himself to look up, he could see no evidence of the explosion having even happened.
"What the…" Sora grimaced and quickly rolled to take cover behind another tree, trying to catch his breath.
"One shot," Alfonso said, creating an arrow of light from his hands and lining it up with the bow. "You understand, Sora? I get just one shot in, and it's over for you. You may have survived the first shot, but trust me— luck runs out fast."
