IV
Rydia
The perpetual night sky of Traverse Town shone with the remaining stars that had not yet been consumed by the Heartless.
On the roofs, was Sora.
He was on the roofs looking for treasure. There were several times when Sora had been forced to combat Heartless on the roofs, and as a result, had often found useful items such as potions, eithers, and elixirs, that had been dropped by them when they had been defeated. He was looking for anything that had been dropped, and neglected to be picked up.
So far he had found nothing.
He was about to turn around, to call it a night, when he heard something.
Crying.
He looked around to find the source of the noise, and looked down to one of the lower leveled roofs and saw a small, green-haired girl curled up and crying.
"Hey," Sora said softly, "are you okay?"
The girl sniffled before replying. "Go away!"
He slightly recoiled, and considered if he should leave her alone, but he knew he couldn't leave her like this.
He hoped down from his level and landed next to her and sat down.
She scooted away.
Sora reached out a hand, and touched her shoulder.
"What's-"
She instantly broke down even further. If that was possible.
The girl flung herself into Sora's lap and began to wail.
Sora froze, not entirely sure what to do, as crying children were not his specialty.
He gave her time, and let her unload her emotions.
After a while, she calmed down, until her cries became mere sniffles.
"The black things," she said softly.
"Huh?" Sora placed a hand on her head.
"They killed Mama."
Sora stiffened.
"They killed Mama."
He lowered his head, and gently stroked her hair.
000
Sora, Donald and Goofy walked through the marketplace of Radiant Garden.
Sora bumped into someone.
"Sorry," the green-haired woman said.
"No, it's my fault," Sora said.
They both continued on their ways, but Sora stopped and turned back to her.
"Sora!" Donald called. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Sora turned back to his companions. "Yeah, it's just," He turned around to find the woman, but she had already disappeared into the crowd. "That woman looked familiar."
Sora shrugged the feeling away, and continued on his way.
Edward Chris von Muir and Tellah
"You guys hear that?" Sora asked.
"Hear what?" Goofy asked.
"You don't hear it? C'mon, listen up!"
Donald and Goofy paid close attention to whatever it was Sora had heard.
The air was being filled with the gentle strumming of a harp.
"Music?" Donald asked. "Who's playing music?"
"I don't know, but I think it's kinda purdy," Goofy said.
"Where's it coming from through?" Sora looked around for the source of the music. "It looks like it's coming from up there!" Sora pointed to the upper levels of the castle wall they were next to.
The three of them walked up the closest stairs to them and went up to the upper level.
On the wall, facing the mountains in the distance was a young, blonde man playing a harp.
They listened in silence for several minutes as he finished his song. When he was done, they began to clap.
"Huh?" The man turned to them with a questioning look, as though he had not noticed them when they arrived.
"That was a nice song you were playing," Sora said.
The man gave a smile. "Thank you. That song is a favorite of someone very important to me."
"I can see why."
"Do you take requests?" Donald asked.
"Of course," the man said. "So long as I know the song." He began to pluck several strings, but-
"You!"
A string broke. The man looked around frantically and jumped up from is spot. "I'm sorry, but I have to go!"
He then quickly ran away.
"Get back here!"
The three of them turned around to see an elderly man run up to them and stop, seeming to catch his breath. "Get back here you swine! You scoundrel! You-You-!" He grew red with anger. "YOU SPOONY BARD!"
The older man gave chase to the bard, leaving the heroes in confusion.
"What was that about?" Donald asked.
"I don't know," Sora scratched his head, "but do either of you know what a 'Spoony Bard' is?"
Yang Fang Leiden
"Where do you think Tifa's been lately?" Yuffie asked aloud.
"Couldn't tell you," Squall said, not really caring enough to listen to her.
"You haven't seen Tifa lately?" Sora asked the ninja.
Yuffie shook her head. "Kind of, but every time I see her, she's usually in a rush, or dead tired."
"You think she's alright?" Sora asked.
"Maybe, I tried to follow her several times, but some idiot keeps calling me and says I have to get to work and stuff."
"Well this idiot," Squall said in annoyance, "is your boss."
She ignored him. "She usually goes up to the mountain. Hey! How about you check it out! I'd go, but my boss is really pushing me hard. I swear, sometimes he's just-"
"I wonder if I should take away your vacation time."
"The best boss in the world!"
Sora sighed, and left the two to the petty argument that would ensure.
000
Sora, Donald and Goofy walked down the mountain path, in search of the woman they were sent after.
"I wonder where she goes," Sora wonder to himself.
It was then a rock exploded from an above ledge.
After some panicking and dodging, they were able to avoid all the debris, they ran up the mountain path, leading to the top of the plateau.
000
Tifa slid backwards, she stopped herself before she slid too far. She readjusted her stance.
"You certainly are an impressive woman," her opponent said.
"Thank you," she said.
The man gave a warm chuckle. "Everyday you come up here, and challenge me to a spar, and I must admit, that I have always enjoyed them. You certainly can prove a challenge."
Tifa nodded. "That's why I keep coming up."
"Hey Tifa!"
Tifa and the man turned around to see Sora, Donald and Goofy run up the path.
"Sora?" Tifa asked.
"Ah, so this is Sora? The wielder of the Keyblade?" the man said. "It is an honor to meet such a young lad."
Sora turned to Tifa. "Who is this guy? Is he why you keep disappearing?"
"Disappearing?" Tifa asked questioningly.
"Yeah, Yuffie said you kept disappearing without telling anyone where you were going."
Tifa raised an eyebrow. "But, I told Yuffie where I was going."
"Who did? But she-"
Tifa sighed. "She mustn't have been paying attention. Again."
"Sounds like her." Sora turned to the man. "Who are you again?"
The man bowed. "My name is Yang, young Keyblade-child."
"Yang?"
"Yes, Yang is one of the strongest martial artist in the world," Tifa approached Sora. "I've been training myself against him to improve my own skills. He has me up here every morning for a spar. Though," she turned back to Yang, "you were late today."
"Sorry," Yang apologized, "but my wife lost the frying pan, so I couldn't wake up."
"Frying pan?" Goofy asked. "You can't wake up without the smell of eggs and bacon in the morning?"
Yang shook his head. "No. She hits me with it."
"I think I'd rather have an alarm clock," Donald mumbled.
Palom and Porom
"Hey Merlin!" Sora called as he, Donald and Goofy entered the wizard's house. "We need to ask you something. "Merlin!"
The wizard didn't come.
"Merlin?" Donald called.
"Maybe he's not home?" Goofy suggested.
"You got that right bub," said a voice.
The three of them turned to see two small children, a boy and girl, walk out of the back
door.
"The coot's not home right now."
The little girl then gave a quick, and apparently painful yank, on the boy's ponytail, as he let out a yelp when she did.
"What my brother means," the girl said. "Is that Master Merlin is not home right now. Though we'd be happy to help you if we can."
"Who are you two?" Sora asked. "And what are you doing in Merlin's house?"
"My name is Porom," the girl said, indicating herself, "and this is my twin brother-"
"The name's Palom!" the boy boasted. "The soon-to-be-greatest-sage who ever existed!"
Porom sighed. "Please excuse him, he was dropped on his head. A lot."
"Hey!"
"We came here looking for books on White and Black Magic. He said we could come anytime we needed anything."
"When we came here, he had to go somewhere and left us to watch his home."
"Wait? White and Black Magic?" Sora scratched his head. "What are those?"
"They're types of magic," Donald answered. "White Magic is used for healing, and Black Magic is used for destruction." He lifted his staff up. "I'm a Black Mage!"
"There's also other types of Color Magic," Porom said.
"If you guys are going to talk about boring stuff, I'm leaving," Palom left the room.
"There's Red Magic; which is a balance of White and Black Magic, as well as swordplay. Though while they can use all three, they can't master each skill to its fullest."
"Green magic is used to buff up your allies, and weaken your enemies," Donald said.
"And Blue Magic is where you learn techniques monsters use."
"Really?" Sora said, now interested in this. He turned to Donald. "How can I learn Blue Magic."
"You have to get hit with the attack first," Donald answered.
"Oh."
"There aren't many Blue Mages since they normally die trying to learn new spells."
"Oh."
"And there are rumors that if they don't have enough control over their magic, you turn into a monster."
"I don't want to learn Blue Magic anymore."
There was then an explosion from the backroom.
"I didn't play with Merlin's chemistry sets!" Palom yelled.
"PALOM!" Porom screamed, before running into the backroom.
Cid Pollendina
"Wow, this place is impressive," Sora said, walking into the large room filler with various mechanical devices. "This is the airship hangar?"
"King Mickey's been helping reconstruction," Cid Highwind explained. "He sent a couple of squirrels over to help with the airships."
"I thought Chip 'n Dale were chipmunks?" Goofy asked.
"They are!" Donald said.
"And, you're managing all this buy yourself?" Sora asked.
"Heh," Cid took out his toothpick. "Nah, when we posted news about this in the newspapers, we got a lot of people want to help." He shook his head. "Though, none of them knew starboard from port."
"Yeah, hehe." Sora didn't know the difference either. Wouldn't be easier to say 'front' and 'back'?
"But I did manage to find one guy who knew exactly what he was doing!"
"Really?"
"Yeah. He even had some blueprints about improved designs and such." he put the toothpick back into his moth and smirked. "While normally I'm not one to get impressed by other people, but this guy is really something."
"He sounds good. What's his name?"
"Hey, Cid!" The four of them turned to see a stout man with a large red beard walk up to them. "Where've you been all day? I've think I found a way to get around the circuitry problem we've been having."
"That's great!" Cid pointed to the man. "Sora, this is that man I was talking about; Cid."
"Wait, I thought you were Cid?"
"I am, but so is he."
"That kind of confused us at first too," Cid P. said.
"Coincidently if you ask me," Cid H. said. "That there are two Cids' who have interests in airship."
"That's weird." A thought then struck Sora. "Hey! What if there's a whole bunch of other people named Cid out there who like airships! Maybe thirteen, or maybe fourteen of them!"
. . .
The four other people stared at him.
"That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard," Cid P. said.
Edge
The Keyblade sliced down, downing another Heartless, thus finishing off the group they had been fighting.
"Was that the last of them?" Goofy asked, looking around.
"I think so," Sora said, slinging his weapon over his shoulder. "That wasn't so hard. It's all in a day's work of-"
"Sora!" Donald called.
The Keyblader looked behind him, to see a large Heartless about to rake its claws through him.
It then split in two as a large shuriken sliced through it.
Sora blinked in shock, before following the weapon as it turned around in the air and headed back to its point of origin.
"Yuffie?" he asked.
"Don't know who that is." The shuriken was suddenly caught by an outreached hand. "But I can guarantee you that I'm not them."
"Who are you?" Sora asked.
"Don't know huh?" the masked man smirked. "Sad, you don't know that." The man then leaped into the air and landed between the three, his cape billowing in the breeze, and threw his arm out. "Edge!"
. . .
"Edge of what?" Sora asked.
The man stumbled out of his position for a moment. "That's my name!"
"Oh. Why didn't you say so? We could have avoided that confusion had you done so."
Edge growled and rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Just what are you three doing here anyway? Dangerous this far from the city."
"What about you?" Sora asked. "You're all the way out here too."
"That's because I'm here to kill these monsters," Edge said, folding his arms over his chest.
"You mean the Heartless?"
"Yeah, whatever those things are called."
"All by yourself? That sounds dangerous," Donald said.
"Hey? How about we help you?" Goofy suggested.
"I'm good," Edge said, turning around. "I can handle them on my own. I don't need help." His voice took on a darker tone when he said this. He turned away from them. "These things have greatly wronged me, and I'm going to do everything I can to destroy them."
He then jumped away, leaving the three by themselves.
Rosa Joanna
"These attacks are getting relentless," Sora said through panting breaths.
There was a Heartless attack in the Market Place, and while no one was killed, there were still many injured.
"We really need to find a way to get rid of them for good, or at least make sure that they stay outside the walls," Donald said.
"Everyone is alright." The three of them turned to see the person who had been healing the injured; a young blonde woman who was named Rosa.
She had been passing by when the Heartless attacked, and begun to heal those who had been injured, as well as aiding Sora, Donald and Goofy when they had been hurt during the fight.
"That's good," Sora said. "I'm surprised that no one was killed though."
Rosa nodded in agreement.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sora asked. "You seem kind of down."
"Uh?" Rosa asked, looking towards Sora. "Yes, I'm fine, it's just," she trailed off.
"Just what?" Goofy asked.
"Oh, it's nothing." She sighed. "I guess, I am just worried about how fast the Heartless are spreading." She looked out to the horizon. "There are people out there, dear friends of mine, who left to help fight them, but neither one has returned."
"They haven't?" Sora sadly said.
"No. And while I have faith in them, I just can't help but be worried."
"Do you have any idea where they might be?" Donald asked.
Rosa shook her head. "No, no I don't."
"I hope they come back to you," Sora said, "and soon."
Rosa gave a small smile. "I hope so too."
Kain Highwind
"Magicite? Materia?" Goofy asked, poking at the crystals growing from the walls.
"Yeah, Squall said that these caves grow magic stone naturally," Sora said, looking over the walls. "Yuffie also said that certain stones are worth a lot of munny."
"Which ones?" asked Donald, who was equipped from head-to-toe in mining gear. "Where do we start?"
"Hm," Sora looked for a good spot to start. "There!" He pointed to a oddly round stone that glowered green. He walked up to the stone and placed a hand on it, and to his surprise, it broke off the wall. "Wow, that was easy."
"Look out!" Goofy yelled.
Sora spun around just in time to see a spear about to pierce his face. He ducked it and rolled away from his assailant, landing next to Donald and Goofy.
"HEY!" Sora yelled at the man who attacked him. "What was that for?!"
"Yeah! Just who are you!?" squawked Donald.
The man said nothing as he stood up and readjusted his grip on his spear.
"That stone you have," he said, staring at them through the eyeholes in the dragon-like helmet. "I have to take it from you."
"The crystal?" Sora asked, looking down at the stone. "Why do you need it?"
"Who cares why he needs it!" Donald pulled out his staff. "We found it first! Finders keepers!"
"He also almost turned Sora into shish kabob," Goofy pointed out.
"Yeah, that too."
"Hn." The man raised the spear and pointed it at the three. "If you won't give it too me, then I'll just have to take it from you."
000
The man collapsed to one knee, clutching the spear tightly.
"Dammit," he cursed.
"Just who are you?" Sora asked, keeping the Keyblade in his hand.
"His name is of no importance."
The three didn't even get a chance to turn around, when they were assaulted by a barrage of lightning bolts, sending the crashing to the ground in pain.
"You-You've come?" The spearman kneeled down hastily.
"I have."
Sora opened his eyes, to see a large man clad in dark armor walk from the shadows.
"Who-?" Sora tried to say. "Who are you?"
The man in black stopped in his tracks and looked down to Sora. "I am someone who you could never hope to best," he said. He outreached his hand, and the crystal that Sora had taken floated off the ground and flew into his grasp. "We have accomplished what we've come here to do. Time to part." He spun, his large cape waving in the air, before vanishing in a crackle of lightning.
"Yes, sir," the spearman said, before he too vanished in a similar manner.
The three were left there in pain, wondering as to what had just happened.
Cecil Harvey
"Just who were those guys?" Sora asked, as he, Donald and Goofy walked out of the cave, after having been attacked by those two strange men in dark armor.
"I don't know," Donald said. "But they seemed as though the really wanted that crystal for some reason."
"They could have asked for it," Goof said. "Lighting hurts."
There was then a low growl from behind them. They turned around to see a large Heartless pounce from above them.
They were about to grab their weapon and destroy it, when a blast of black fire appeared and seared right through it.
"Huh?" Sora asked in surprise and spun around to see whoever just did that.
Standing not to far off, was a man dressed entirely in dark, full body armor. "Are you okay?" he asked, walking forward.
Donald pulled out his weapon. "Hey! Who are you!?"
The man took a step backward incase the duck attacked.
"Sorry about that," Sora said, pushing the staff away. "He's a little jumpy right now."
"He could be with them!"
"Who?" the man asked.
"We just got attacked by some guys in armor!" Goofy said.
". . .Armor?" He appeared to think about this. "What kind of armor?"
"Well, one was dressed like a dragon, and the other one was huge and black!" Sora said.
"Where did they go!" the man said urgently.
"They vanished."
"Oh." He now sounded disappointed.
"Why? Do you know them?"
He seemed hesitant. "No." He began to walk away.
"Hey!" Sora called. "Where are you going?"
The man turned around to face Sora. "I'm heading off to find a mountain somewhere out there."
"Why do you have to go all the way out there?" Goofy asked.
He lowered his head. "There's something in it that I need."
"Need?" Sora scratched his head. "What?"
"I power that I need to fight someone. If I can't obtain it, then many more people will get hurt."
"All by yourself?" Goofy asked.
"Yes."
"Then how about we help you?" Sora said.
"Pardon?"
"If you can help people with this power, then we'll do anything to help.
"Sora," Donald growled.
The man seemed hesitant. "Very well. It's this way." He began to walk off.
"By the way! My name's Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy."
The man chuckle. "And my name is Cecil."
Please reveiw
Mrfipp