A/N: And now, for Chapter 8!
Here are replies to my anonymous reviewers…
Peach: I'm really sorry for not replying to you in my last chapters! D: But yes, Roxas, Namine, and Xion will definitely make an appearance later on, because I just recently finished working out the kinks for fitting them in. I'm glad you're excited for them! ^^ Stay tuned for their appearance.
Nin4: It's fine! Yes, I'm glad you think I'm improving. :D I definitely want Sora and Riku to at least be close friends. I'm putting off deciding if they'll be more then friends until later…I don't want to say any more than that. Thanks for reviewing!
I would also like to thanks all those people who favorited or are watching this story. Turkish Delights for all!
DISCLAIMER: I accidently the Kingdom Hearts/ Final Fantasy elements that I don't own.
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
Dawn had finally come. The red sun was slowly beginning to rise above the horizon, casting a multitude of warm colors into the sky. Several snippets of rays slunk through the windows of Sora and Riku's room. Riku groggily awoke as the light poured in, rubbing his eyes absentmindedly. To his right on the window bench lay Sora, who had not yet been affected by the rays. "Lucky guy," he thought.
His mind gradually made its way back to the events of the previous day; it had been nice for the Moon Elf, especially after the events that had taken place back in the woodlands. He had gotten a chance to distract his mind for a day or so, as well as learn that humans weren't too horrible.
"Sora, Kairi, Riku!" a happy voice called from down the hall, which belonged to none other than Vanille. The pink-skinned faery threw open the door and bounced into the room, appearing to be a little surprised that Riku was already awake.
"Oh, you're up early!" she exclaimed.
"I usually wake up at dawn," he explained to her.
"Wow, that's weird!" she replied in amazement. "Well, can you get Sora up? I have to go get Kairi and the other teens up still. Thanks, dear!"
On that note, she skipped out of the room and down the hallway. Riku blinked, and then turned to the brunette. He was sleeping so deeply that Riku wasn't even sure if he was still alive.
"Um, Sora?"
No response.
"Sora, we have to get up."
The brunette remained sleeping, completely unperturbed. Sighing heavily, Riku gracefully pulled himself from his bed and poked the faery.
"Sora," he said loudly, "get up." But alas, Sora still showed no sign of awakening.
By now, Riku was getting a bit frustrated with the task Vanille had assigned him. How could one sleep so heavily, with the sun up no less? He grabbed a couple pillows off the bed, and then chucked them at Sora. Even as the barrage of pillows hit him, the brunette continued to sleep soundly.
"Try cold water. It worked like a charm on my sister."
Kairi stood in the doorframe, appearing amused at the sight. In her left hand she held a large bucket filled halfway to the top with water.
"You try it. I'm about through attempting to get him up," Riku retorted. The mermaid froze for a moment, but hesitantly walked over to Sora with the bucket of water. Shifting the weight of the bucket so that she was holding it with both hands, she turned it on its side and poured the water down his neck.
The response was immediate; Sora yelped in surprise, causing him to jump and fall off the bench and onto Kairi. She staggered back a couple steps before falling into Riku, who had been watching from beside the bedposts. The three fell to the ground with a great THUMP.
Vanille rushed into the room to investigate where the noise had come from. When she saw the three piled together on the ground, she merely clapped with glee like a small child.
"Wow, I can't believe you actually managed to wake him up!" she exclaimed happily. "Breakfast is in the kitchen; after that, you have to pack up quickly!"
The three remained piled on top of each other quite stunned, until Sora began to giggle nervously. Kairi joined in and even Riku let off a small smirk.
"What just happened?" Sora finally asked.
"We had to wake you up somehow. We just weren't expecting this," Kairi responded, grinning.
"You sleep like a vampire," Riku retorted.
He stared blankly at Riku for a moment, as if his thoughts had kidnapped him for a moment. After that, he scratched the back of his head. "Oh yeah, I was-"
"Hurry up and eat! We're going to be late!" Vanille cried impatiently from the kitchen. The trio sighed, but clumsily untangled themselves from each other and slipped out of the room.
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
About an hour later, the three teens were following Hope, Vanille, and a very tired Tidus and Wakka to the human train station. Sora wore a thin suede-colored T-shirt with a black and white over-jacket. His shorts that fell just past his knees were of a crimson-red, and were held up by a simple blue belt that looked as if it had seen better days. He wore white gloves, which exposed his fingertips, and carried a duffel bag filled with only the necessities. Around his neck he wore his silver crown-shaped necklace, something he had worn for as long as he could remember.
Riku wore the same pale-yellow mesh shirt and dark pants that he had arrived in, although they had been washed. The large suspenders that accompanied the outfit were securely buckled to his waistband. The backpack he'd brought contained some of Hope's old clothes and some new hygiene products, nothing too special.
In the meantime, Kairi was attempting to juggle the bags and suitcases of items Vanille had bought. The outfit she wore consisted entirely of human items, including the uncomfortable 'bra' that the employee and Vanille had insisted that she needed. As for her outer garments, she wore a black tank top with a spaghetti-strap top over it. Several knit bracelets hung on her wrists, and a plastic belt was laced through the magenta skort she wore. On her feet were a pair of simple sneaker-clogs, and around her neck was her charm necklace from her grandfather and a simple black choker. Her bags included (but were not limited to): a suitcase in either hand, a small pink purse on her shoulder, a backpack, and an extra bag on each suitcase. Why Vanille insisted she bring so much stuff was something she would never know; she wasn't even sure what half of the items were.
Finally, they arrived at the station that Yen Sid had instructed them to depart from.
"Do you have your tickets?" Hope asked the trio. They nodded, and each of them pulled out a small yellow piece of paper.
"Great. Bring them to the window, and the employee will stamp them," he instructed. Riku and Kairi nodded and did as they were told, but Sora hesitated.
"Do I have to?" he asked. "I don't want to go."
"I know you don't want to, but you should try it anyway," Hope said encouragingly. "Besides, I don't want to listen to another argument between you and Mom."
Sora rubbed his head sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that."
"What are you doing? Hurry up!" Vanille snapped at the two of them. Slowly, Sora turned and followed Kairi and Riku to the window.
"Next," the man at the window ordered. The three of them walked up together and handed them their tickets. When he saw them, he raised his eyebrows.
"Kingdom of Misfits?" He paused for a moment as his eyes scanned the yellow tickets. "I think I've seen a ticket to this location before." He rubbed his temples, as if trying to remember something. Finally, he stamped the tickets and gave them back to their respective owners.
"Well, that was odd," Riku said as they walked up to their train. Actually, it was only the very front part of the train, as there were no cars or even a caboose attached. It was painted a deep-purple color, with stars scattered across the front, and there were four windows on each side of it.
"That's one strange train, man," Wakka stated, as he walked over to Riku's side.
"Tell me about it," Riku agreed.
"You know you don't have to do this. You could stay here with us. You enjoyed yesterday, ya?" Wakka asked, making one last attempt to change Riku's mind.
"I don't want to burden you," Riku replied. "Besides, you never know. I could learn something at this place."
"What do you want to learn?" Wakka asked curiously.
Riku paused for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure myself."
Meanwhile, Sora was saying his goodbye to his brother.
"I'm sure you'll meet other weirdoes like you there," Tidus joked, punching his brother in the shoulder.
"Hey, I'm not that weird!" Sora protested.
"Yes, you are," Tidus responded. "Well, are you going to visit us?"
"Of course, I don't even want to go in the first place!" he replied passionately. Suddenly, the train engine let out a long CHOOO-CHOOO.
"Well, I guess we should be going," Kairi said, struggling as another bag fell from her hands.
"Bye, dears!" Vanille called cheerfully as they loaded into the engine.
"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" Sora called as he waved to them.
"Toodles!" Vanille said cheerfully, blowing kisses. Hope waved back, but there was something in the expression he wore that unnerved Riku. Was that fear and…something else? Before he could name the last emotion, the doors slid shut, putting an abrupt end to their farewell session. The engine blew once more, and the train lurched unpleasantly. Finally, it began to move down the tracks. Tidus and Wakka ran along with the train, waving at them through the windows until it disappeared into the dark tunnel.
"Man, I miss them already," Wakka muttered sadly.
"I feel ya," Tidus responded in an equally dejected voice. "Well, at least they'll come visit us. Maybe they'll even return home soon enough."
"I like your way of thinking, man," Wakka said, patting the autumn faery on the back. Hope watched them from a distance, a mixture of regret and sorrow upon his face.
"What's wrong, dear?" Vanille asked concernedly.
"Oh, it's nothing," he replied airily. "Let's go."
The four of them stole one last glance at the spot in which the train had been, before reluctantly leaving the station.
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
"It has to be them!" Yen Sid said enthusiastically, flipping through another large book. "It must be!"
He threw the book over his shoulder, which landed in a pile of books he appeared to have thrown haphazardly as well. Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door to his office.
"Come in!" he said warmly.
The door was carefully opened by a thin man who appeared to be in his twenties or thirties. His long, blonde hair fell down his shoulders and framed his pointed face, which was scrunched up in confusion. From his plain clothing and white lab coat, one could conclude that he was a scientist.
"Ah, if it isn't Master Even. Tell me, how is Ansem the Wise?" Yen Sid greeted the man.
"You seem oddly…pleasant to me today," Even commented. "May I inquire why?"
"Yes, yes of course. I would also like you to relay this information to Ansem," he said with a mysterious grin. He waved his gnarled hands around the crystal ball in the middle of his desk, muttering in a foreign tongue. Within an instant, the orb revealed Sora, Riku, and Kairi on the train he had sent for them.
"Three children?" Even said skeptically.
"Look closer," Yen Sid commanded. Even raised an eyebrow, but stepped closer to examine the trio anyway. As his emerald eyes inspected them, a shocked expression formed on his face.
"Is it really them?" Even asked eagerly.
"If I have interpreted the ancient texts correctly, then yes."
"I must inform Master Ansem. We will need to study them immediately." At this, Even whipped around to leave.
"Not so fast," the old man muttered, causing Even to stop in his tracks and turn to face him.
"I found them first, so therefore I get them first. Maybe after I am done I may allow you and Ansem to study them for your…scientific purposes," Yen Sid said, his voice lined with a mixture of both amusement and arrogance.
"Excuse me?" Even said incredulously. "They aren't yours to take or keep."
"So that makes them yours, scientist?" he countered, dismissing the image from the crystal ball. Even merely glared at the old warlock, clenching his fists.
"I'm afraid I must be going now. Ansem will be sure to hear of this; don't expect him to take the news lightly," he warned, and then briskly walked out the door. Yen Sid merely chuckled at Even's antics.
"Scientists are strange little people," he mused.
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
Aboard the train, the three teens remained silent. Kairi was sitting on one of the cushioned benches, twiddling her thumbs nervously, while Riku stared blankly at the wall, and Sora simply gazed out the window.
"Hey, look!" Sora exclaimed, pointing out the window. The other two joined him and curiously examined the landscape.
Or better yet, the lack of landscape.
The train was floating through space. The dark entity known as 'space' was adorned with shining stars, colorful auras, and strange lands that flew by as quickly as they appeared. All of them gazed in awe at their surroundings, for they had been unaware of this large territory before them.
"Whoa!" Sora said, his jaw dropping at the sight.
"I knew Yen Sid's Kingdom of Misfits was far away, but I didn't know it was this far," Kairi commented.
"I never knew that all of this was possible," Riku said in a hushed voice. The others nodded in agreement.
"I wonder if we'll get to go on an adventure out here!" Sora said eagerly.
"Don't be silly, we're going to this kingdom to gain peace in our lives, not more chaos!" Kairi snapped.
"Hey, what did I do to push your buttons?" Sora protested. Kairi ignored him and merely stared at the ground. "Besides, I hope we don't just have to sit around all day, cowering from the rest of the world. I would turn around and leave as soon as possible."
"I thought we were going there for answers," Riku complained.
"Hm, Riku has a point," Sora agreed thoughtfully.
"Answers to what? We already have the answers: we're rejects to society and don't belong back where we came from!" Kairi barked.
"What's got your panties in a bundle?" Sora muttered under his breath. Due to her fey sense of hearing, Kairi heard this nonetheless. She glowered at Sora, causing Riku to shoot Sora a sympathetic glance. Finally, after a few painstaking minutes, Kairi stopped and began fidgeting with her dress.
"You're horrible with women," Riku commented, shaking his head. Sora merely grunted in response, before returning to stargazing out the window until he fell asleep.
They were blissfully unaware of the events to come.
-MISFITS-MISFITS-MISFITS-
Well, Kairi's in a bad mood now.
Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated!