Chibii: YAYS! More reviews! I'm so happy, I think I'll go gorge myself with chocolate.
Shiloh: SHHHHH! Its about to start!
Chibi: But it's not a movie!
Sora: Well-of course- I'd be the star! But Shiloh, in the last chappie, why did you run off with Riku?
Shiloh: …I do not wish to answer that question (mumbles) You can't pry secrets out of me while the fic hasn't really even started yet…
Chibi: This isn't a movie! (eye twitch)
Fans: (throws popcorn at Chibi's eye) SHHHHHHHHH!
Chibi: (puts ice to eye) Why do these unfortunate things always have to happen to ME?! (throws a tantrum)
Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own KH but I owns Shiloh, WHY DO YOU MAKE ME SAY IT EVERY TIME? HUH? HUH? (throws pencil at computer in rage)
--
Chapter 4- New Worlds, and New Controversies
Sora lay, in a new world, unconscious, and with the newfound, mysterious Keyblade. His head was propped up against the thick stone wall of a neat little shop behind him. The Keyblade lay in Sora's outstretched hand as his head turned to the side in an attempt to regain consciousness.
Just then, a rather obscure looking dog wandered to the back of the alley from which he'd landed, and was now tirelessly licking his face. Sora eventually came to his senses, greeted with the warm, wet tongue, and opened his eyes.
"What a dream…" said the drowsy teen, his head bobbing lazily to the side. He suddenly jumped up, exclaiming, "Wait…this isn't a dream! Where am I?"
He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, ruffling up his spiky hair and looked to the dog in front of him. Its' gold-colored fur glistened from the nearby lamps that shone overhead in the strange new town he was in, and its large eyes brightened with excitement at Sora's awakening.
"Do you know where we are?" he asked it, as if it would know. Apparently, the dog didn't know, because it turned around, and went on its jolly way down the alley. Sora stared at the spot where the dog once stood for a few seconds, but something suddenly occurred to him.
"Hey, this is totally weird! I-I'm in another world!" he said out loud, getting to his feet. He looked around, and immediately spotted a sign that said "TRAVERSE TOWN".
"I wonder If Riku, Kairi, and Shiloh are here," he mused, staring at the sign, then at the Keyblade in his hand. He began to recall all the events that had taken place on the island, before he'd gotten here, and tightened his grip on the durable handle. "I think I'll go take a look around,"
--
Shiloh groaned lowly as she felt her hand twitch on the stone cold ground. The copper-like scent of pebbles and cobblestone greeted her nose as she opened her eyes to feel cold pavement on her cheeks. Her fingers still twitching and her head still spinning, she sat up slowly to see a small, white, almost pearl colored creature with a shiny big red nose and red pompom on its' head to match, staring at her. She flew back in shock, but lost her balance and fell on her back.
"What an idiot I am, how can you fall when you're sitting down?" she said to herself, rubbing her forehead vigorously to fully awaken herself.
"Are you alright? Kupo!" asked the red-nosed thing. Shiloh's eyes fell upon the mysterious, yet kind of cute, little being. She peered at it in an interested manner as she repeated the words it had just spoken.
"Ku-po?"
Rubbing her forehead one last time to make herself certain that she wasn't dreaming, she stared in a bewildered manner at the huge, bobbing, sphere on top of it's head, which glared a bright red at her.
"Well, um, I'm fine thank you. Not to be rude or anything, but what exactly ARE you?" she asked with curiosity. It simply folded its short, stubby arms and replied with an unusually cute squeaky voice.
"I'm A Moogle! Kupo!"
"A… Moogle?"
"That's right! But please don't touch my pompom."
The trivial moogle had good reason to calmly reprimand her, because Shiloh was now curiously poking the Moogle's large pompom on its head. It bobbed like an inflated tomato as she gave a sheepish smile towards it. Who could resist?
"Oh, I'm sorry, um, Moogle was it?," she asked, slightly embarrassed. Shiloh sighed, stood up, and took a step back, trying to figure out where she was, and where her friends were. She looked up at the blue sky, which really didn't compare to her island sky. It was just…boring, bland, and kind of depressing. Shiloh sighed, folding her arms and deciding that it probably would've been better if they'd just stayed on the island.
"So this world, its obviously not mine, so what's it called?" she asked the Moogle, looking back down at it.
"Well, this world is called Traverse town. Various people from other worlds have come to stay here, kupo! Because they've lost their homes," the Moogle replied.
Shiloh stared at the Moogle for a brief second, taking in what it had just said. So, I'm in a world, alone? Like a stranded traveler? ,she thought. Her gaze drifted away from the Moogle and to the ground immediately. Well, maybe… maybe, Kairi is here, or Riku, or …Sora! Yes that's right!. She lifted her head up, and began to question the Moogle.
"Hey, have you seen a boy with spikey brown hair, and bright red shorts?" she asked, pointing to her clothes while she talked.
Nooo! Your not supposed to make contact with him, remember? Her conscience screamed. Shiloh seemed to remember something suddenly, from her conscience's outburst, but still looked at the moogle eagerly for an answer.
The Moogle pondered the question for a brief moment, and then raised its little head.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone like that, kupo!" said the Moogle. "Maybe if you ask Cid, in that shop over there, he can help you find him,"
"Cid…okay thanks," Shiloh nodded, disappointed, and sat on the edge of one of the nearby water fountains, not knowing what to do next. Running a mildly shaky hand through her hair, she gave a frustrated sigh.
She had no time to ask people around town if they'd seen him-way too time consuming. He's not even here! What should I do? she thought. In her dreams, she had foreseen the fate of her island, but why didn't she foresee this? She looked up to observe Traverse town, to be a little aware of her surroundings.
It's features consisted of hard cobblestone covering the ground, in the town's first district. High street lamps lined the sides; illuminating a small café very nicely. People who were obviously lost wandered around, probably looking for their friends or family, like her.
Hmmm… maybe if I dream a little more, I can- her thoughts were interrupted by a piercing scream. As a cold chill ran down her neck, she turned around to see those same creatures from the island that had attacked Sora and she. The creatures had found new prey, a young woman. But the important question was, what were they doing here?
The woman, startled, fell back in shock, as several of them began to deliver blows to her legs and back. Many of the other people, who were standing around, were now running for their lives, nearly trampling Shiloh and knocking her off the fountain in the process.
That woman's in trouble! Should I help? Well, I don't have a weapon! She thought, waiting for the crowd to pass by. She stood up, and saw the woman now on the ground, panting heavily, from fear. The dark creatures encircled the woman, ready to pounce. I want to help somehow! I screamed inside.
Suddenly, a ball of light began to form in her hand. She watched in amazement, as the light grew larger, and almost practically blinded her, forcing her to look away. The dark beings looked away from their prey, and looked unto the strange source of light that had appeared.
When the light had subsided, and Shiloh was able to see, she stared at her hand. In it, was a long, silver rod with gold lining. At the very top of the rod rested a large, white heart.
Two star charms dangled from the opposite end. She almost dropped the forlorn object that had seemed to appear out of thin air, as she attempted to speak words amidst her shock.
"W-wha?" was all she could manage, while she stared at the foreign object in her hand. She blinked at it and furrowed her brows at the sight of this rod.
"What the hell is this thing?"
The dark fiends had seen enough; they were ready to obtain their prey's heart. They turned their heads back to the woman, rearing to attack once more.
Shiloh was so struck with awe, she simply let her arm hang limp, with the rod still clasped in it. Although abruptly, the rod, still in Shiloh's hand, lifted itself up, and pointed towards the monsters.
A bright light shot from the top of the rod, and flew into the sky above. Needle-shaped fragments of light began to rain down; straight towards the beings. The slivers of light immediately pierced the creatures, making them disappear in a shroud of darkness.
Shiloh blinked, hard, and tried to figure out how she'd just done that. A few short babbles of shock were emitted from her lips before she could actually say something.
"H-how did I? How did this?" she questioned. The rod lowered in her hand, and she gripped it more firmly now.
Okay, hang on, now I have defense, but how do I use it? And was that attack supposed to be a lesson of some sort? She questioned in her mind. She shook the rod gently, wondering if it would do something else. More of the abnormalities began to appear; and this time, they were coming for her.
"Aww, great," she complained, backing up slowly.
This wasn't looking too good-she was practically defenseless. Without her knowledge of how to use the strange rod, it may as well have been a useless and abnormally large pipe of some sort. Just then, a voice, a joyous voice that filled her with hope, came out from behind her.
"Hey! Shiloh," yelled Sora's voice from afar.
Shiloh turned around, and smiled at her dear friend this time. She was so happy to see him; he was okay- Sora was okay!
"Sora!" she replied.
Sora ran up beside her, realizing the situation at hand immediately as he spotted the creatures materializing.
"Need some help?" he asked, with a grin.
"Yeah, thanks," she replied, happy that someone that she knew was right beside her. She was so happy she briefly forgot that she wasn't supposed to talk to him. Nevertheless, Sora charged at the beings with full force, slashing them with his keyblade. Okay, I'm gonna help Sora help me now…but how do I use this thing? She thought, waving the staff in the air, to try and make it work-but to no avail.
Sora took a reprieve from his fighting for one second, to examine Shiloh's staff, while the creatures reassembled their forces. He peered down at the top of it, poking it with a finger, and suddenly abruptly smacked the floor with the staff. Shiloh gasped, taking it from him quickly but gently.
"Sora! You'll break it!" she said, with a worried expression.
Sora grinned heartily, holding up his Keyblade. "Sorry, but you don't know how to use it? Not even just a little?" he asked.
"No, not really," she replied, shaking her head.
Sora was about to suggest something, but was interrupted when one of the monsters charged at them. He quickly made haste of it, and went for the others. Shiloh was trying to dodge the creatures' attacks, but one quickly struck her on the shoulder, sending a sting of pain through her collarbone. As she fell to the ground, she quickly rolled away from it, trying to gain some distance between them.
"Damn," she cursed, rubbing her shoulder. They all seemed to be aiming for the chest area, for some reason. The same being that had hit her before, was now in front of her, and jumped eagerly towards her.
She could've sworn she heard Sora's voice in the backround, but she was too caught up with her own thoughts at the moment, and could hear nothing. Sora can't save me now, nobody can, except me she thought, and raised her rod towards the creature.
Her lime green eyes glared daggers at the creature as she held it firmly and tightly above her. A small light began to glow at the top as she swung it at full force towards the creature. It disintegrated, to her content, and she smiled with relief, putting a hand to her chest.
Flashing a quick reassuring smile towards Sora, she now prepared to take out the rest of them, along with Sora. Now the duo were slashing at the creatures left and right, gaining a little experience with every hit.
--POL--POL--POL--
When the fight was over, the inhabitants of Traverse town began to slowly return to the streets. Young children looked warily around as they stepped forward, along with other adolescents and a couple of Moogles. Sora and Shiloh were now sitting on the floor, panting heavily, their newfound weapons on the floor beside them.
"Thank you so much for saving my wife!" exclaimed a random man, who had ran up to them.
"No prob," Shiloh answered, with a bit of tediousness. He nodded, and quickly ran off to calm his shaky wife down.
"You were amazing Shiloh!" said Sora, gathering his Keyblade and standing up.
"Are you kidding me? I nearly got creamed!" she cried, standing up as well.
"Well, you fought pretty good to me..," he trailed off.
A tiny forlorn blush escaped Shiloh's cheeks as she replied, "You were pretty good, yourself. But, I'm so glad I found you. I was afraid that I was going to be in this world alone,"
"Me too! I woke up and was really surprised, because we made it to a new world and all. But you guys weren't here with me, so I went to go find you and the others, and here you were!" he exclaimed, talking a mile-a-minute.
Shiloh smiled and glanced for a moment at all the people already returning to their daily lives here.
"Maybe they…are still here, if we all ended up in the same place,"
Sora nodded. "They've got to be here! Since we've came here, they should've followed us here after that world travel right?"
Shiloh nodded, although she knew that that, of course, was not true. There were odds of all of them ending at the same world, but the random portal that had sucked them in could've dropped the others off just about anywhere.
"Maybe soon, we'll figure out what this is too," Sora said, holding the Keyblade up to his eye level.
She glanced at him from where she sat, and set her eyes on the key in Sora's hand. Shiloh already knew what Sora's weapon was, of course. What do I not know about this little excursion…she thought, trying to look as confused as possible. It was the Keyblade, the one item that could seal worlds and defeat the Heartless. However, Sora didn't seem to have the slightest idea what it was.
"Yeah, maybe..," she said; but she still wanted to know what her weapon was, which was indeed, the one thing she didn't know…among a couple of other things. She assumed a thinking pose with her finger on her chin and wondered how long she could really keep this little pretending charade up.
Before Shiloh could snap back into reality, Sora had already bounded up the steps ahead of her. Now aware, she huffed a little breath of frustration and began to stroll up the steps after Sora.
"Hey, wait for me!"
xXxXPOLxXxXPOLxXxPOLXxXPOLxXxXPOLxXxXPOLxXxPOLxXxXPOLxXxXPOLXxX
"Accessory shop," read Shiloh off the sign on the door. Sora simply shrugged, and opened the door. They saw a man with blonde hair, leaning casually on the counter in front of him. His long white t-shirt lay spread out on the counter as he lifted his head to see who was coming in. Removing a toothpick that seemed to perturb from the inside of his mouth, he spoke up in an enthusiastic manner.
"Hey, how can I… Aw, its just some kids..," he said.
"So this is how you treat your customers? No wonder you have no service here!" she exclaimed, picking this idea up from how excited he looked to have people coming in.
"And don't call us kids, the names Sora!" he said, with a dominant tone, pointing to himself proudly.
"Okay, okay, simmer down." He replied, not at the least bit surprised by the teens' outbursts'. " So, are you two lost or something?" said the man, running a hand through his faded blonde hair.
"No!" yelled Sora quickly, without thinking. Shiloh sighed, and playfully tugged on his ear.
"We're lost, our island was destroyed by…um monsters, but, this is Traverse town right?" she answered. He nodded slightly, lifting up a hand to scratch the peach fuzz that was visible around his chin.
"Looks like you're in the same situation as a lot of people here, including me,"
"Traverse town… So, gramps, this is another world right?" Sora asked. Shiloh forced herself to stifle her laughter over the fact that Sora called him "gramps", probably in contradiction to their names earlier.
"Don't call me gramps! The name's Cid! Anyway, not exactly sure what you're talking about, but this sure isn't your island," Cid mused.
Shiloh sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well we know that…"
Sora gave a short chuckle and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Shiloh! Lets start our search for Riku and Kairi again! They could be around here…somewhere," he said.
"Well, good luck with whatever it is your doing. If you two ever run into trouble, you come to me, I'll look out for you," Cid said.
"Thanks Cid," she replied, and began to walk out, then turned back around, and asked something that had been tugging at her once they'd came inside the shop.
"Say Cid, how exactly did you get here?"
He fiddled with the tiny toothpick in his hand for a moment before answering. "Well, our world was destroyed, as you could say, much like yours,"
Shiloh narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment before nodding, then turning to walk outside alongside Sora.
The two ventured from district to district looking for their friends. They all seemed to look exactly the same, except maybe a district or two was bigger than the other. Of course, they were greeted by a couple of heartless each time around, and were getting their fair workout for the day. A couple of times, they thought they saw their friends around in the large and quaint town, but to no avail.
--
As Shiloh and Sora entered the First district once more, in front of Cid's shop, Sora folded his arms in frustration. They now positioned at the base of the stairs, Sora seated on the very last step.
"Where could they be? We've looked everywhere!" he said.
Shiloh listened to him, looking down and balancing a pebble from the ground on the tip of her finger. The situation at hand seemed very hopeless, and it was clear that they really weren't here. They obviously weren't here, so she may as well have. But Sora absolutely had to stay on his toes with this. She gave another tired sigh, and took another look at the Keyblade in thought.
"Sora," she beckoned, her hazel eyes focused on the key in his hand.
"Huh?"
"Remember what I told you. Be strong, don't give up," she instructed, standing up, and beginning to pace around him a bit. Sora tilted his head to the side, in thought, and then remembered that she had told him something like that.
"Um…okay…but," he started, his mind in a current scramble.
"But anyway," said Shiloh, the mysteriousness of that last statement replaced by this new one. "We should get moving, we don't want those things to follow us here,"
He wanted to know why she went with Riku at that time on the island, instead of him. Didn't she trust him? He opened his mouth to question her about it.
"Um, Shiloh I-,"
"They'll come at you, out of nowhere." Said a man that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The two teens turned to look at the figure that had interrupted their conversation.
Shiloh swallowed a bit hard; the scar on his face seemed to be intimidation enough, alongside the shining sword that glared at them from upon his shoulder. He narrowed dark brown eyes at them from the top of the stairs above them.
"Who are you?" asked Sora, in a curious tone.
"And they'll keep coming at you, as long as you wield the Keyblade," he continued, pointing at Sora and disregarding his question.
Sora stared at him for moment, for he didn't know what the hell this guy had just started saying. It really didn't help that he was a total stranger. He looked to Shiloh for words, but she merely shrugged, noticing that the area that they stood in front of had seemed to have been cleared of bystanders in less than a minute.
"And as long as you wield the Heartscepter," he said, pointing at Shiloh.
Shiloh seemed a little cautious to even talk to him, but nevertheless spoke up. He seemed to have knowledge about Sora and she.
"You know what it is?" she asked.
"But the Keyblade, why would it choose a kid like you?" he rambled on, motioning to Sora once more.
Shiloh sighed. This guy really should've learned some manners.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" retorted Sora, undoubtedly insulted.
"Never mind, now lets see that Keyblade," he said, taking a step forward a bit menacingly.
"What? There's no way your getting this!" replied Sora, whipping out his Keyblade in a flash of light.
Shiloh sensed some sort of struggle coming up, so she held out her hand for the, so called, Heartscepter to appear as well.
"Alright, then have it your way," said the man, swinging down the sword from his shoulder.
"Sora who the hell is-," Shiloh began to say, but was abruptly seized from behind, to her surprise. Gloved hands covered her mouth and tried to pull back the teen from where she was standing, but she began to flail madly.
Angrily, she bit into the glove that stifled her struggling sounds, and though for a second she had sunk her teeth into some flesh. Of course, it was a little hard to kick because, she was rather short, and the person restraining her was a little taller than she was.
"Sorry," the restrainer said in almost a low whisper, the voice obviously belonged to a woman.
Shiloh struggled even more to break free of her tight grasp, retaliating a muffled "Let go of me!"
Suddenly, the grip grew unbearably tight on her arms, stifling her attempt of escaping. She felt a sharp blow connect with her abdomen instantly. A sharp cough escaped from her lungs as the impact of the blow, caused her to relax immediately.
--POL--POL--POL--
Meanwhile, In a distant world, Riku lay, his eyes closed in unconsciousness. He soon opened his eyes, the faint roar of a distant waterfall brining him to his senses.
As he stood up, very slowly, the glint of the sun, peeking slightly out from behind gray clouds, caught his eye, showing the pure aquamarine color of his pupil. He looked around at this new world, and He screamed their names. He called again, no answer. But somewhere above him, someone was watching him intently, but just who exactly was?
--POL--POL--POL--
Shiloh opened her eyes to a bright light and a slight breeze, apparently from an overhead fan. She sat up slowly, then her hands quickly went to her stomach, which was now throbbing with minimum pain. It really hadn't helped that pretty much her whole stomach had been exposed when she punched her.
"Look Yuffie, that one's waking up," said the voice of the man that had confronted Sora and she earlier. Alarmed, Shiloh shot a low glare at them from the bed that she sitting up in. The two were positioned across the room, looking straight at her intently.
"What do you people want?" she asked, wondering where exactly they had taken her, and Sora, wherever he was.
"Whoa, calm down. Don't worry, we were doing you guys a favor," said the girl he had called Yuffie as she walked toward her with something in her hand.
"Here," she said, placing a cold compress in Shiloh's hand. "Sorry for hitting you earlier,"
Shiloh looked up at her, a confused expression planted on her face, but nevertheless she took it. "Um, thanks…"
"I'm Yuffie," she stated.
"And that's Leon," she also said, while pointing across the room to Sora's attacker. He was casually leaned against the wall, with his eyes closed, he looked like he was sleeping or something.
"I'm Shiloh," she said, eyeing the sword fastened tightly to the belt on the Leon's jet black pants. Suddenly, she'd remembered that Sora had begun to fight him before we came here, and she looked around for a moment.
"Wait…Sora?" she asked, then looked to the side to see him sleeping peacefully. "Oh there he is,"
She blinked, surprised that she hadn't noticed him there- he'd always been a quiet sleeper, restless at times though.
"Don't worry, I'll wake him up!" exclaimed Yuffie cheerfully, walking over to him and leaning into his eye level.
"C'mon lazy bum, wake up!" she instructed to the sleeping Keyblade master. Sora responded with a low moan, and slowly opened his eyes.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I guess…" he replied, still looking a little drowsy from Shiloh's perspective.
"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want- simply because you wield it."
"I'm so glad your okay Kairi" he said, sounding a little delirious.
Shiloh blinked, looking at Sora for a moment. "Hm?"
"Kairi? Who's that? I'm the great ninja Yuffie!" she exclaimed, standing straight up with confidence.
"Huh?" asked Sora, now confused, bringing a gloved hand to his face to rub his eyes.
"I think you might've overdone it Squall," she said, turning to face him.
"That's Leon," he corrected solemnly.
"No, I think that's just Sora's little mind that's acting up," Shiloh said, laying back on the bed and relaxing with the cold ice on her stomach.
"Oh, Shiloh, Are you okay?" he asked, sitting up fully and looking at her.
She motioned thumbs up with one hand, replying "Peachy," a bit dully.
"You?"
"Well, I can't say I'm doing that bad…" he replied, taking a look around the tiny hotel-looking room they were in.
"So, Yuffie, the Keyblade?" he asked her, remembering what she had said before.
"And the Heartscepter?" asked Shiloh, sitting up.
"Yeah, we had to get both of them away from you to shake off those creatures," she replied.
"It turns out, that's how they were tracking you."
"It was the only way to conceal your hearts from them, but it won't work for long," said Leon from his spot on the wall.
"So, what would happen if they actually got our hearts?" Shiloh asked.
"They would destroy them," she said. Shiloh and Sora looked at each other briefly with shocked expressions, they didn't know the creatures were that dangerous.
"Still, Its hard to believe, that you, of all people, are the chosen one," he said to Sora.
Sora's bright, blue eyes shot a bit of a glare at Leon.
" I guess you're up to the job, you look smart, but… looks can be deceiving," he said to Shiloh. Her eyebrow twitched, out of anger, and she glared at him.
"Well then you must be the one who's deceiving me, because you look pretty bright yourself," she replied curtly, nudging Sora to take the ice pack if he needed it.
Leon waited to answer a second, meeting Shiloh's hazel eyes in a brief little stare down.
"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers," he finished, having disregarded Shiloh's comment back.
" Well why don't you start making some sense! What's going on here!" yelled Sora, agitated and confused.
"Fine." Replied Leon flatly as he gestured to the window. "Those creatures, they're called the Heartless," he said.
"The Heartless?" asked Sora.
"The ones who attacked you guys, remember?" said Yuffie.
So they're called the Heartless, thought Shiloh. It kind of surprised her that she didn't know that already, but nevertheless she listened to Leon and Yuffie's information.
"They're those without hearts," he continued.
Now that was just a little obvious, Shiloh thought, again.
"And there is darkness within every heart," he stated.
"Hey, have you heard of someone named Ansem?" questioned Yuffie. Shiloh immediately froze, and her oncoming breath caught in her throat for a second. She'd heard that name before, somewhere. She tried to focus on the name and see if it would open any doors in her memory, but to no avail.
She focused hard, staring at her hands and blotching out what the others were now saying amongst themselves.
Suddenly it hit her, what that name exactly meant. She grabbed her head abruptly, which was now shrouded in painful memories, all in the mention of that name. Sora noticed, and grabbed her shoulder gently.
"Shiloh, are you okay?" he asked, noticing his friend's movement.
"Oh I'm fine, don't mind me," she said, and tried to offer a reassuring smile.
Yuffie nodded, and continued, "He studied the heartless, a very long time ago, and he made a report about all of his findings."
"So, this is the key?" asked Sora, summoning his Keyblade by opening his hand.
"Exactly," said Yuffie.
"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade, that's why they'll keep coming after you, no matter what," said Leon.
"Well, I didn't ask for this!" whined Sora.
"The Keyblade chooses its master," clarified Yuffie.
"What about the Heartscepter?" asked Shiloh, recovering from her daze.
Yuffie took a moment to remember what they had found out about that. " Well the Heartscepter's wielder must have a very pure heart, in order to wield it. Its' also a very powerful weapon, it can send hearts to eternal rest, defeat heartless, and…" Yuffie trailed off.
"And?" Shiloh asked.
"And its like, the protector of the Keyblade- with the Keyblade, it makes a beautiful, and powerful combination of light," she finished. She could see Sora blushing a bit beside her, and she smiled and said "Wow,"
She couldn't really look at Sora right now, since she blushed easily and didn't really want anyone to see, so she simply stared at the olive colored sheets on the bed. A beautiful combination? How about a beautiful couple? she thought, then quickly covered her face.
Why am I thinking that? Stop it! She thought. Sora was more of a brother than a real lover…well that's how it'd seemed until recently…
"So, to both of you, tough luck," said Leon.
"How did this all happen? I remember being in my room- Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi!" yelled Sora, his voice sounding confused, a little scared. He turned to face Shiloh.
"Shiloh..,"
She shook her head and grasped part of her short, pink hair in her fingers. She knew the answer to that as well, as to why the heartless had attacked Destiny Islands.
"You know what? I really don't know," replied Leon, averting his eyes to the ground. Then, they all fell silent. This is what would probably happen to everyone who lost their worlds to the Heartless, except of course obtaining the Keyblade and Heartscepter.
Sora sighed, "I'm sorry Shiloh, you told me to be strong, and I'm not being very strong am I?" asked Sora. She turned to face him, her eyes brimming with tears, just a little.
"Sora, you're being stronger than me," she said, smiling. Sora gave a small sigh, trying hard not to burst out in anger at their fate, and as to why they had separated so abruptly.
Instead, wrapped his arms around Shiloh. He slid his hands under her hair beside her neck, while she let out all of her tears on his shoulder. She felt stupid and childish, why was she always feeling that way? Sora had about the same responsibility with the Keyblade as she had with the Heartscepter. So why couldn't she be confident about like him?
The sweet aroma of a fresh bouquet of roses embraced Sora's nose as he pressed his cheek against her shoulder. They had said that she had a pure heart right? Whatever that had meant. Maybe this pureness had blended into Shiloh's physical features too, as well. At least that's what Sora thought.
"All right Shiloh, we'll find the others okay?" he asked in lulling tone, patting the top of her head with his free hand softly. Shiloh sniffed, wiping her eyes and tried not to cry anymore.
"Thanks, Sora," she said, pulling back a little to breathe and rid her eyes of this blurry, tear-stained vision. She then blinked and looked up, remembering that Leon and Yuffie were still in the room.
"Of course," he said.
Leon was looking away, the first smile she'd ever seen on him planted on his face, while Yuffie giggled a bit lowly at the scene.
"Get a room you two," cooed Yuffie.
Shiloh felt her face turn madly hot as she tried to thin of something to detour them from what they had seen. "Wait, it's not what it looks like…?"
Sora, on the other hand, looked kind of happy, comfortably swinging his legs to hang off the little bed. Heheh, just like when we were little, he thought.
--
Eventually, they broke apart and rested for a little while on the bed, sitting silently.
"So…what are we gonna do now?" she asked, wondering how long they were going to be able to stay in this little room. Sora shrugged a bit, standing up to a get a little tretch in.
"Well, we can't stay here forever," said Yuffie, turning to them. "They'll eventually find out that you guys are here,"
"And that's why we should be leaving now," said Leon, finally averting from his slouched position on the wall.
"You must fight for your life, be prepared. Are you ready?" he asked them, a little dramatically.
"We're ready," Sora replied.
"Yuffie, Lets go join Aerith, she should be there by now with the other visitors," instructed Leon. Suddenly, a heartless with strange armor appeared in the room, in a sudden flash on dark purple. It jumped up rather erratically, the helmet on its head rattling loudly.
"Leon!" yelled Yuffie, as it materialized completely.
"Yuffie go!" ordered Leon, and she ran out of the room.
"Shiloh! C'mon!" said Sora, taking her hand and nearly ripping it off running over to Leon.
"Wha?," she responded, obviously a bit surprised. Nevertheless, she held out her hand for the Heartscepter to appear immediately as she followed Sora over to Leon, who slashed at the present Heartless in the room.
"Sora, Shiloh, Lets go!" said Leon, and the party dashed towards the exit, which was the small window.
Leon leaped outside, followed by Shiloh and Sora, and they abruptly landed on a rooftop that was close to the tiny Hotel window.
The entourage quickly dashed across the roof, weapons in hand. Leon instructed once more, "Don't bother with the small fry. Find the leader, lets go!", then dashed ahead of them.
"We can do this!" yelled Sora to no one in particular, clasping Shiloh's hand tighter, and running faster.
"That's right," she agreed, keeping up the same pace as Sora. "But Sora, you're crushing my hand,"
"Sorry," he replied, letting go, then looking around a bit.
"Wait, where is this?"
"Umm…Second District!" exclaimed Shiloh, looking around. "We shouldn't go to the first, they'll be expecting it, maybe the third is best," she pondered.
"Third it is," said Sora, as he started to run in the direction that the Third District was in.
--
"You okay?" asked Shiloh, once they'd reached the largest district of them all. Sora was bent down a bit, one hand on his knee, as he panted a bit heavily. Probably from all the running they'd been doing.
"Yeah, you?" he asked.
She nodded, panting a little along with Sora, and looking around. "Hey, where do you think Leon and Yuffie went?"
"I dunno," He replied, lifting up his Keyblade. "But I DO know that I could fight these things all day!," he triumphantly stated, summoning the Keyblade.
Shiloh shot a smirk at Sora's always- present confidence, then was startled by a shriek of some sort from far away.
The two teens slowly turned around, hearing the voice coming closer, like a bee being drawn to honey.
Shiloh and Sora finally looked up to see a goofy looking dog, and an oversized duck, both with clothes on, flying towards them. Shiloh simply took a step back, and thought that Sora would do the same, but instead, he began to run forward, but didn't make it. The dog and duck fell right on him. They all lay on the ground for a split second, all collecting their minds after the hard fall.
Shiloh blinked in bewilderment, and seeing Sora squelched under these people, she shook her head. And to think, that could've been me If hadn't have stepped away…
"The key!" they exclaimed, still squashing Sora, but strangely interested in the Keyblade.
"Actually, Keyblade to be exact," she corrected, with a smile.
"The heart!" they exclaimed, once more, looking at the Heartscepter.
"That's Heartscepter," she corrected, again. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and miniature heartless began to appear. The dog and duck both had weapons, and so did Sora and Shiloh- so they were left with no choice but to defeat the heartless together.
While fighting, Shiloh observed that the duck used some sort of magic to attack and heal, while the dog used a tiny shield that seemed to deflect some attacks.
After the fight, yet another heartless came into view. Only this time, it was humongous, and much more intimidating than its small fry cousins. The large armored structure dropped from the sky and onto the floor. Then, strangely, the dismantled arms and legs were simultaneously strewn together with a loud clank.
"What?" said Shiloh, stunned and a little scared.
"Don't worry," reassured Sora. "If we all work together, we can defeat it,"
How cliché Sora…Shiloh thought. And yet…true
The party then rushed forward to attack the large armored structure. The Big heartless, or the Guard Armor, began to attack as well, its levitating arms swinging towards the party.
An armored, closed fist swiftly connected with the ground, followed by the legs and torso, right toward the young heros.
Shiloh and Sora's new allies nimbly dodged the blow, and began attacking the somewhat defenseless torso. Meanwhile, Sora and Shiloh took the opportunity to strike the now spinning hands and feet.
The hands movements seemed almost impossible to predict, since they were floating in midair and all. However, they seemed to be evading them just fine, once they got the hang of it. They even gained rejuvenating healing orbs after they destroyed a miniature Heartless Shadow every time. Sora, just avoiding being crushed by an enormous foot, started to ready himself to strike it in midair. However, his strategic plan was interrupted, when it gave quite a vigorous swing right in his direction.
"Sora! Look Out!" yelled Shiloh, seeing the scene from a little ways away as she held a Shadow back with her Heartscepter.
He turned around swiftly to twist away, but the blow struck him too fast for him to evade. As he tried to stand up, and counter, the same hand that had struck him pinned him down, balling up into an enormous fist and slamming down upon him.
"Crap…" Shiloh muttered, shoving the Shadow off of her with one forceful push.
The duck and dog seemed to have defeated the torso, but it seemed they had gotten knocked out in the process. The two were sprawled out on the floor, looking dizzy and disoriented.
Shiloh hastily rolled to the side of oncoming Shadows, and rushed over in Sora's direction to deflect the attack that the upraised hand and leg prepared to initiate on Sora.
Sora struggled fiercely against the hands pinning him down. "Shiloh, what the hell are you doing? You can't block that! Run away!" he advised loudly.
"Just trust me!" she screamed back, raising her Heartscepter above her head a little.
She knew she wasn't going to be able to deflect it, but what else could she really do? She knew she wasn't going to succeed, but she was only doing it for Sora. Swallowing hard, she smiled to herself and sighed. He never ever gave up on me, so it would be heartless to give up on him…
Just then, the raised arm and leg came down at full force at the young teenage Heartscepter wielder.
--POL--POL--POL--
To be continued…
--
Chibi: That took me FOREVER to type! As a result, my computer died due to overuse. (points to dead computer)
Fans: (pulls new computer out of Chibi's garage) HA! Nice try! But its' right here!
Chibi: Aww… (rubs swollen eyes from sleep deprivation, and starts typing)
Shiloh: Look at this cool new Moogle plushie I found!
Moogle plushie: Kupo! Kupo! Kupo!
Riku: What about the plushie I gave you?
Shiloh: (throws plushie at Riku's face) There, HAPPY? Now leave my Moogle plushie and I in peace! (several eye twitches)
Sora: (has been playing KH for 4 days straight) Must…beat…Riku.
Riku: (glares) I hate you too.
Sora: HAHA! Take that tiny Riku! OH! OH! I dodged it! Watcha gonna do now Riku? Watcha gonna do now! (is jumping around wildly)
Jeff: Chibi, there's chaos everywhere, Chibi?
Chibi: (snoring on the keyboard)
Jeff: Well then… chappy five coming soon! Please review! Bye!
Riku: Sora stop it! (breaks PS2)
Sora: NUUUUUUUUUU! My pride and joy! (dies)