Author's Disclaimer: I do not own "Kingdom Hearts". It is property of Square Enix and Disney. I do not own anything of it from characters to items and places. All I own is Star. So... NO STEALING STAR! :) Enjoy~!

Dedication: This is dedicated to my beloved readers and my best writing pal, Megumi. Your writing inspired this!

Author's Note: This takes place a few months after "Kingdom Hearts II". Now, I'm a little rusty in the KH universe because I haven't played it in over a year, so please let me know if I make any mistake or such. But please tell me kindly. Constructive criticism is appreciated as well as feedback.

The Encounter

-The World That Never Was

Star stared at the landscape. "Its so empty." She whispered.

The king looked up at the girls. "Come on, girls. We gotta keep moving."

Kairi and Star followed the king across the short desert plain into an area of the city that reminded Star of the big cities she and her friends would explore on their vacations. As they walked further into the city, Star couldn't help but notice that was nothing in the streets. The tall dark neon-lit buildings seemed hollow.

"Why doesn't anyone live here?" She asked.

"Because it was only meant for Organization XIII," Kairi answered. "I think the city's like this to remind them that they once lived in places like these." She turned to her. "You know how a Nobody is created, right?"

Star nodded. "Its really sad, though. It's gotta be an empty feeling to know you -" She froze when she saw a child in front of her. Normally, Star would smile and kneel down to talk to children but this child was different: it was her. The little girl had brown pigtails and a pale pink dress on. Star stared at her and breathed deeply. How was this possible? How could she be looking at herself? The little girl giggled and ran off in the opposite direction with a squeal. Star took a step back, frightened for a second. She felt a cold shiver shoot through her body and she held herself. She looked up to see a black hooded figure running after the child. She stared at the two running figures.

Kairi touched Star's shoulder when she didn't respond to her calling. "Star?"

Star closed her eyes and shook her head. She turned to Kairi, who looked at her worried.

"Are you alright?"

The brunette nodded, "Yeah, just… tired I guess." She glanced down the street to see if she could see the child and the hooded figure. She breathed when she didn't see them.

"Are you sure?"

Star flashed a smile. "Positive!"

"Are you girls okay back there?" The king called out.

"Yes!" Kairi shouted. She took Star's hand, "Come on! The faster we get through with this mission, the faster we can leave!"

"I'll finish the mission tonight then!" Star joked.

Once they reached their destination, King Mickey requested the girls scout in the libraries and rooms for any useful information. The girls stuck close to one another since the Castle That Never Was was quite large.. Star tried to forget the little girl and the hooded figure from earlier. She was starting to fear the things she saw when she was a kid were coming back. Star shivered at the memory of herself as a little girl in her room seeing a shadow in the corner - the brunette shook her head and returned to the task at pulled out a book and blew on the cover, revealing much dust. She set it on the table and flipped it open. She frowned when she saw the symbol of the Heartless and Nobodies. Star saw a third symbol and she cocked her head to the side.

"Hey, Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell me what this symbol is?"

Kairi walked over to Star and looked down at the book. "Well, that's the Heartless symbol. That's the Nobodies' and -" The redhead stopped at the third symbol. "I don't know…"

"I think Organization XIII was studying this symbol and whatever it represented," Star told her. "Whoever wrote in the book circled the symbol and anything connected to it." To prove it, the young girl flipped through the pages. Sure enough, there were marks and circles around the strange symbol.

"We need to show the king," Kairi said.

"Yeah -" Star looked up when she felt a cold shiver. "Did you feel that?"

Kairi nodded. "It got cold…" She hugged herself.

Suddenly, ten Nobody Dusks appeared around them. Kairi took out her keyblade. "Be on your toes."

Star nodded, "Gotcha." She took out her dagger and placed one hand on her potion pouch.

The Dusks lunged for them. Kairi slid forward and swiped her keyblade across, defeating two Dusks and throwing a pair against the wall. Star kicked a Dusk away and stabbed another one. Kairi cornered one of the Dusks and hit it with all her might. She turned around to see three more waiting for her. The princess narrowed her eyes. She ran to them and used one of the Dusks as leverage to jump high and slash more Dusks. She stood up and grinned. Although Star wasn't as skilled as Kairi in battle, she used a few things from her Dance classes that gave her a great help. She whirled around with her dagger out and got rid of three Dusks. She smirked and continued to take down the rest with Kairi.

When the Dusks were defeated, the two girls walked backwards until they felt one another. They fell to the ground.

"They've grown…" Kairi panted. "Stronger."

Star breathed deeply. "Glad that's over."

The girls gasped when more Dusks appeared.

"Why'd I have to jinx it?" Star sighed. She reached down to her pouch for potions but Kairi stopped her.

"Don't," The redhead warned. "Save them for later."

"Then our best option is to run."

Kairi nodded. "I hate to say it, but I think so too. Get the book and I'll cover you."

"Right!" Star ran to the table where the book laid opened. Two Dusks jumped in her way and she kicked them out of the way. She grabbed the book, turned around, and ran back to Kairi.

The girls ran to the great doors while more Dusks appeared. The two girls stopped. They exchanged g lances and nodded. Kairi leaped forward and did a slash in the air to get rid of three jumping Dusks. "Kairi!" Star tossed her the book and she got rid of the three Dusks on the side. Kairi took out a Dusk and caught the book. She turned around to see a narrow clearing between the Nobodies. "Over here!" She called out over her shoulder. The two ran in the narrow clearing and down the hall. "Catch!" Kairi threw the book back and started to fight a few Dusks that blocked their way. Star ran pass her and Kairi followed. Star skidded into a halt. "Whoa!"

Before the girls was a tall hooded figure. He stood there, observing them from under his hood. He stretched his hand out to them. "The book." He simply said.

Star clutched it to her chest. "No way!"

"Leave us alone!" Kairi yelled.

"Give me the book." The figure said.

Star narrowed her eyes. "And I wanna be a princess."

"I didn't come for jokes, I came for the book." The figure seemed to be getting impatient.

"We're not giving it," Kairi said with a determined face.

"It'd make things a tad easier for me."

"Too bad," Kairi said. "We're not here to make your life easier."

The figure chuckled darkly. "Life? What life?"

The redhead narrowed her eyes. Was this… Was this a Nobody? But, the only people that wore coats like his were Organization X III. "Are you with Organization XIII?"

The figure stopped moving and Kairi felt his eyes glare at her.

He muttered something that the girls couldn't hear. He brought his hand up and pointed a gun to the girls. "Now, the book if you please." He said in a louder voice.

The girls looked over their shoulders to see the Dusks surrounding them. Star bit her lip and glanced up a the hooded figure. "What's so important about this book?"

"Nothing important to you."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Just give me the book."

Star and Kairi looked at each other. Kairi sighed. "I guess we have to run!" The redhead ran past the figure and opened her arms. Star threw the book over the figure's head and Kairi caught it successfully. Star took her chance to lunge at the figure and raised her dagger. He, however, caught her wrist.

"Not today, little girl." He told her, then disappeared in a cloud of darkness.

Star rubbed her wrist trying to get rid of the painful grip he had on her wrist. She looked up at Kairi who looked quite worried. "I'm sure it's some goofball trying to mess with us," The brunette assured her.

Kairi shook her head. "He used the power of darkness, I don't think he's just any goofball." She turned around, book clutched tightly. "Come on, we got to get this to the king."

Star turned around to find the Dusks were gone. She cocked her head to the side then ran after Kairi.

-Unknown

The group waited for the arrival of their absent member. Once he appeared, the leader asked him "Did you retrieve the book?"

The figure shook his head. "No, the girls wouldn't give."

"Why didn't you send me?" The female member asked. "I could've gotten the book and gotten rid of the girls without the Nobodies' help."

"Patience," The leader reminded her. "It would've been better if you had gotten the book, however you drifted them from the truth which is a good thing for us."

"Would've been better if those girls were dead and the book here with us," One member spat.

The leader ignored him. He turned to the member who stood farthest from the group. "Go to Agrabah and take care of the Keyblade Master. We don't need a repeat of the past."

"What?!" The female cried out. "I'll do it myself! He'll go easy on the child!"

"I would prefer to do it myself," The member who had arrived a few moments before said.

"Silence!" The leader shouted. He turned to the quiet member. "You'll go and take care of the Keyblade Master and any who get in your path. Unless I need to remind you what punishment awaits you."

The quiet member shook his head, "You don't need to remind me. I'll take care of the child and any other. It won't be easy -"

"Excuses already?!" The female pulled out her weapons.

"Stand down!"

The female scoffed and threw her weapons to the ground. She crossed her arms and turned her face away.

The leader turned his focus on the other member. "Take him down and any that interfere."

"What about the world?"

A brief pause. "Any witnesses are destroyed. The world is left alone."

The figure bowed his head. "As you wish." He turned around and stepped through a portal of darkness.

Author's Note: This chapter didn't take so long to type really. And, this was really my first fight scene. I hope I did well. ^^'' Feedback please.

NinjaSheik: Thanks~!

Org13: Glad to hear the KH characters are in character. :)