A/N: Actual plot stuff happening now!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Still. And I'm really bad at playing it too. Still.
Ventus and Vanitas had been resting in the forest for a couple of hours when there was a sudden scream. They sat up, surprised and confused, then pushed themselves up and ran towards where they'd heard the scream.
They reached the clearing, pausing as they saw the young girl kneeling in the centre of it, several monsters around her and trapping her. Her gaze was frightened, and she trembled, pale.
"You get the girl, I'll deal with the Unversed," ordered Vanitas before he leapt forward, Keyblade appearing as he started attacking the monsters.
Ventus hurried past him, also summoning Wayward Wind and kneeling beside the girl. "Are you alright?" he asked gently.
"I-I think so...But what..what are those monsters?" she stammered.
"I'm not sure, but we won't let them hurt you. Come on," he said, standing. The girl took his hand, and he gently helped her up before turning and running for the edge of the clearing.
The girl suddenly screamed, and he looked up as one of the monsters leapt at them. Vanitas was quickly there, blocking it and throwing it back before looking back at Ventus with a glare. "Go already!" he snapped, blocking another attack from another monster and slashing again.
Ventus nodded, carrying on running and pushing the girl infront of him, slashing at the few stray monsters who attacked them. As they reached the edge, he saw a flash and blinked before shoving her. She gave a startled cry as she fell forward, falling to the floor, and looked up at Ventus. He slowed, lifting a hand then flinching as the barrier sparked against his hand. Finally he shook his head, looking at the girl.
"Get somewhere safe. We'll deal with the monsters," he ordered.
The girl hesitated then nodded, standing and starting to run. Ventus watched for a minute, then turned back to the monsters, lifting Wayward Wind. He hurried forward, batting a monster away as it attacked Vanitas from behind, going back to back with the other boy.
Vanitas glanced at him. "What happened?"
"Some sort of barrier. Can't get through it."
"Tch. Bastards."
"What even are these things?" asked Ventus as he attacked another one.
"Unversed. There's loads of different monsters out there; those that attacked you and your brother are Heartless - beings without hearts. These are Unversed - Xehanort's personal creations."
"Xehanort made these?"
"Yep. Another thing he admitted to me a little while ago."
"You didn't tell anyone?"
"I tried. They ignored me, as you'd expect."
Ventus glanced at him, then decided not to comment, focusing on attacking the Unversed instead.
Finally they came to a halt, having defeated all of them. Panting, they let their Keyblades vanish, watching as the barrier disappeared.
Vanitas glanced around around, then turned away. "We should leave. I don't know if Xehanort knows we're here, but he'll find out soon."
Ventus nodded, hesitantly glancing after where the girl had run to before sighing and turning after Vanitas. The other boy lifted his Keyblade, darkness drifting around them before they disappeared.
Lessons with Yen Sid were long, and a lot of the time Sora nearly fell asleep in them. Kairi and Riku seemed pretty attentive in them, but he'd seen Kairi dozing once or twice during particularly long lectures about enemies and their strengths and weaknesses.
There were some practical lessons as well, where they would fight Heartless Yen Sid had conjured. For a while they started off easy, fighting Shadows and other simple Heartless, but eventually they began to get tougher.
During this, Sora tried to keep tabs on Ven as best he could. He knew the blond was alright, and after that brief dizzy spell hadn't had one since, but he was still worried. The two of them were world hopping a lot, not staying on one world for very long, though they did take time to rest and eat when the other boy felt they were safe.
They found they could usually communicate each night when they were asleep, though still had yet to figure out why. Sora had considered asking Yen Sid, but although Ven was inclined to trust him, he felt it would be best if it was private between them.
A couple of weeks in, they were introduced to two of Mickey's friends; Donald and Goofy. While Donald was smart, he was also a bit of a stickler for formalities and rules, and they found he was more likely to lecture them than actually play. Goofy, on the other hand, was a lot more clumsy but also fun, and they sometimes played pranks on Donald with Goofy's help.
Yen Sid seemed to realise exactly how big a task looking after three young kids was, as when they weren't boredly sitting through lectures or happily whacking the fake Heartless he summoned, they were running around the tower playing as Donald complained loudly, Goofy chased after them, the three fairies cooed and sometimes helped them, and Mickey just tried to ignore them as he did his own separate training.
Donald, Goofy and Mickey would also frequently leave the tower to check on the worlds and try to stop the darkness, though they were small scale efforts and only held back the inevitable. They would return each evening, tired and slightly injured, with worsening reports of how bad the situation was getting.
"I'm not sure how much longer this can last, Master. The worlds which don't have someone to protect them are easily being swallowed, and those who do have a force are starting to get overwhelmed. We can't provide enough support to each world," Mickey said one evening when they returned.
Yen Sid rubbed his beard, glancing at the three kids. After a moment he nodded. "I shall see if I can remedy that. Go and rest, and have the fairies keep an eye on the worlds."
As the three of them walked off, he turned to the three kids. They looked at him, curious.
"I shall conduct some final tests for you to complete. Do you feel you are ready to go out and face the Heartless?"
They hesitated, glancing at each other, then Kairi nodded. "As long as we're all together, we can do anything!" she said confidentally. The other two nodded, facing him again.
"Very well. Though your training is far from complete, I believe you will be useful in stopping the darkness. The tests shall begin tomorrow, and will start simple. Be prepared."
The three kids stood, stunned, as they stared at the huge Heartless rearing above them. It was enormous, and gave a bellowing roar, looking around at them with glowing yellow eyes.
They'd soared through all the other tests, easily exhibiting skills in magic, use of healing items, simple skills, as well as fighting without any of that, and so for their final test Yen Sid had created the hardest Heartless they had ever faced.
The Heartless gave another roar before swiping it's hand across the ground. It caught Sora and Kairi as Riku just leapt out the way, sending them flying and hitting the wall surrounding them. Although the blows were softened, they were still a little winded, and pushed themselves up groggily.
"Sora!" shouted Riku as the Heartless swiped at them again.
Sora lifted his Keyblade, creating a barrier just as it hit it. The Heartless reared back, bellowing in pain, and Sora lowered the barrier as Kairi and Riku shot forward to attack it. Their moves were poised, concentrated. Unexpected.
Yen Sid may have been teaching them and pushing them hard, but they pushed themselves harder. They truly did want to protect everyone, and to that end had practised fighting together. Their styles had slowly developed, becoming more unique and personalised, but they'd never really gotten round to showing Yen Sid.
So as the Heartless fell back, roaring as Riku and Kairi continued to batter at it, easily dodging the few attacks it could muster before attacking back, Sora lifted his Keyblade above his head.
"Guys!" he called, and they glanced back at him before nodding and leaping back, out of the way. The Heartless growled, turning to face Sora and lifting a hand over him as he gritted his teeth.
"Sparkra!"
Light shot out from his Keyblade, surrounding him in two layers and rushing around him. It easily cut through the Heartless, and with one last roar it collapsed, fading away.
Sora sighed as he lowered his Keyblade, grinning at the other two as they ran over with a grin. Kairi hugged them both, Sora cheering and Riku laughing as the space around them fell away, showing them back in Yen Sid's tower. They glanced at him, eyes shining and barely noticing his shocked expression.
"...You seem able to handle yourself. Tomorrow, you'll head out with Mickey," he decided finally, watching as they cheered before running to tell the fairies. Sitting back, he rubbed his forehead. "How can they already be so adept?" he murmured to himself.
A/N: Overpowered kids are overpowered. But I digress.
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