Chapter 2:
The trio looked at the man in a curious manner.
"Mineral Town?" Kairi echoed. Her hand was now at her dress as she mindlessly fingered a tear in the outfit. Sora grinned, and was about to place his hands behind his head in his usual manner, but winced when he noticed the scratches along his arm that were from the rooster, who was apparently Donald.
"Ah, a new world!" He stated triumphantly, rubbing his wounds with his opposite hand, wincing once again. The Mayor blinked as the brunette made his way closer to him, bending down to the stubby man's height.
"I'm Sora! This is Donald," he motioned to the rooster who was now fussing over the broken ship, and then pointed to the dog who was laughing at himself once again for tripping over his ears for the third time in a row, "And that's Goofy."
A short moment passed, and when it was clear that Sora believed his introduction was completed, Riku cleared his throat. Apparently, the Keybearer was so used to only introducing himself and his two fighting companions that he forgot to add the other two in the mix.
Embarrassment flickered through the lad's eyes, and he hastily added, "Oh, and Kairi 'n Riku…" He waved in their direction.
The Mayor blinked once again, putting some distance between him and the overbearing boy before responding.
"Um…nice to meet you…Sora, Donald, Goofy…" his eyes passed over each one as he said their names, "and Kairi and Riku. I'm Mayor Thomas, the mayor of the town, obviously." He tugged at his jacket proudly, puffing out his chest as the moment of awkwardness had passed.
The group blinked simultaneously at the little man as he continued. "And I must say I am rather proud that you have come to upkeep this farm. You must be the replacement farmers. For you see, the old man who ran this farm died a year ago, and we recently received tragic news that his grandson Jack would not take over his farm despite it being bestowed on him through the old man's will. He said he was sending a replacement for him, and you must be them!"
"Wait, we aren't the-" Riku began, putting up his hands as though to block such a statement off, but he was interrupted by Thomas.
"Nonsense! You obviously are. Why, considering the fact that you possess both a dog and a rooster." at this, the humans of the group look back at Donald and Goofy, and now it finally registered with them that they had transformed when coming in contact with this world.
Sora's eyes brightened as he ran over to the Knight and the Mage. "Cool Donald! You turned into a rooster! And Goofy, you're a dog!" He poked both of his friends to make sure that what he saw was real. Apparently the magic of transforming ones being in order to accommodate them in the world only affected the non-human party members.
"Whaaaaaaat? Why am I a filthy rooster?" squawked Donald, pushing Sora's finger away from him as he looked over his newly formed self. Goofy looked hurt.
"But I've always been a dog, Sora…"
An odd bunch we have here. But nevertheless it's good to finally have someone to keep up the farm. The mayor mused to himself. But his thoughts were broken as a low voice interrupted.
"Just out of curiosity, you don't happen to have strange creatures running around Mineral Town? They have symbols on their bodies that resemble hearts, but there are some that are entirely black," Riku stated, remembering why they were here in the first place. "And there are others that possess different symbols…almost like upside down hearts if I remember correctly…"
The mayor shook his head, and Riku sighed, crossing his arms, jade eyes closed as though annoyed. Sora turned his attention away from the animals and grinned once again.
"Yes! A vacation! Of course we'll help out with the farm!" He stated, always being the sort to help out.
"What?" the others said together. At this, the spiky-haired boy grabbed Riku and Kairi, pulling them in closer so they formed a huddle around Donald and Goofy.
"Until the real replacement for the farmer comes, we might as well. Once he comes for the farm, we'll be outta here!" Sora explained, eying his friends with that usual glint in his eyes. The others glared at him; Kairi crossing her arms to mimic Riku's stance, and Donald attempted to, but found his wings wouldn't work in such a manner so he merely puffed out his feathers. The only one who seemed to understand where Sora was coming from was Goofy, who nodded in agreement.
"Once again, Sora has a point." The surprisingly thoughtful one stated, sitting down on his haunches. "We just can't be leavin' a farm like this to stay abandoned any longer, a-hyuck. I've been thinkin' that this sort of town depends on this here farm, and this town can't be waitin' any longer for them reple…replec…re-"
"Replacements." The group stated in sync.
"Right! They can't be waitin' any longer for them replacements to come. I mean, it is our job to help out those in need, right?"
Considering Goofy had laid out everything Sora was trying to get at, the boy turned his attention back to the mayor, who was looking rather rejected from the huddle. Mayor Thomas threw him a quizzical look, but the sudden thumbs up he received from the lad made the mustachioed man smile, rubbing his hands together.
"Great, I'll show you to the house then. I'll assign someone to give you a tour of the town tomorrow, and they'll show you to the blacksmiths once the tour is over. They might be able to help fix your machine-thing. We have plenty of ores in the mines." The mayor stated as he began his way towards the run down farmhouse.
Sora grabbed Donald's beak shut when he saw the bird about to correct the man that the Gummi Ship used gummis rather than ores, and the group followed tout suite.
"Now then," began the red-clad man, making a sweeping hand gesture to the door in front of them. "Here's where you'll be staying, obviously. It isn't big, considering the man's wife died when Jack's father was still a toddler. And when his son moved out, he never really kept it up, considering his family only stayed during the summer, and they normally slept in the Inn." While he was telling them the man's life story, he patted at his pockets, as though looking for something.
"Now where did I put that key…" grumbled Thomas, reaching his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
"Oh, a Key?" Sora couldn't help but let out a mischievous grin, and Kairi and Riku's hands met their faces. Donald grumbled slightly, and Goofy still had that permanent goofy smile plastered on his face. "No need to find one." The lad held out his hand, and the familiar shape of the Kingdom Keyblade materialized in his grasp. The mayor jumped back slightly as the Keybearer held the weapon towards the lock. A beam of light emitted from the head of the strange object, and a click was heard. As soon as the task was done, the Keyblade disappeared from his grasp.
The mayor grabbed at the door handle, and his jaw dropped slightly as he twisted the once-locked door open. "Well, well, well…you think you've seen it all…What is that thing?"
"Just a little thing I like to call a Keyblade," Sora states, crossing his arms. He opened his mouth to say more, but the look Riku gave him shut him up.
The hinges creaked as the door opened wider, and the mayor flicked the switch on, showing the group a run-down room that equaled the state of the outside. A table was situated in the center of the small house, a chest placed in the corner seeming to be filled with the basic tools of farming, and there was a simple television resting on the back wall. Next to it was a book shelf filled with musty books, and beside it was an equally musty blue couch. And to top it all off, there was no kitchen or bathroom. And to top it off, everything seemed to be covered in a layer of dust, causing Kairi to wrinkle her nose in disgust. But everyone, save for the mayor's, attention was situated upon the single bed shoved up against the right handed wall.
"Now, you can always upgrade your house to get a kitchen and a bathroom, but there is an outhouse that one can use until then, for bathroom needs, of course. There's a doghouse outside and a chicken coop as well, so that's where you can put your animal friends…and there are a couple of channels one could watch on the tele-"
"Uh, sorry for interrupting, sir…" the light, airy voice of Kairi echoed through the otherwise empty house, cutting the mayor's speech short. "But…there seems to be a problem…"
The mayor looked at her and nodded, waiting for further explanation.
"You see, there are three of us," the girl continued, meaning human-wise at least, "And there's only one bed…"
"Well, I was going to say that you can upgrade your house further to get more beds. But the couch does pull out for another cot, but it's only strong enough to hold one more person. Now then, I shall be leaving you all to get situated in your new house, and expect your tour guide to come around sometime during eight." And with that, the door closed behind the group, and the mayor sauntered away.
"Well…me and Goofy are going to go outside now and check out our new sleeping spots…" the ex-duck said, and both he and the Goof exited through the little doggy door that was on the door. As it swung shut, Sora let out a nervous laugh as the three bright eyes still stared at the single bed.
"So…" The boy began, rubbing the back of his neck with his unscathed hand. An awkward silence filled the dusty air as no one said a word for a couple of minutes. It was Kairi again who spoke up.
"Well, two people are going to have to share a bed." She said, getting first awkward part out of the way. "And since I'm a girl, and can't trust either of you pubescent boys enough to share a bed with one of you, I call claims on the couch."
"Now wait a second Kairi," Riku stated, arms crossing over his chest once again. "You think one of us is going to take advantage of you if either of us is in the same bed." His jade eyes went over to Sora. "I can see Sora doing something like that, but I certainly-"
"Hey!" the flustered voice of a now-blushing Sora came through, interrupting Riku. "I wouldn't do anything like that to Kairi!" And an argument about whether the lad would be able to contain himself in such a position of being in bed with a certain crush pursued, and taking advantage of this, the Princess of Heart made her way over to the bed, and pulled it open, taking out the cot folded inside of it. She coughed slightly as dust kicked up from the movement, and then she turned back to the boys who were still arguing.
"…Considering you spent most of your time in a large glass bubble, you probably won't even understand how to control sudden urges. And the fact that you fell asleep half the time in health class when we were in school…" Riku argued, hands on his hips now as he bent down to Sora's height.
"Oh yeah, and what about you, Mr. Macho man of muscles and testosterone? Someone like you could easily take advantage of a girl like Kairi and pin her down and-"
"ENOUGH!" Kairi yelled, her face extremely red from a blush that came from what the two were talking about. She pointed her finger at the newly laid out cot. "I'm sleeping here. You two can share the bed." And with that, she went outside to get their things from the Gummi Ship, leaving behind two very flustered boys to stare at her in surprise.
----:::----
The lights were shut off now, and night had descended on Mineral Town, the moon of the first day of spring still ripe in the sky. Kairi was sleeping peacefully on the cot, head up so she wouldn't inhale the dust that was infused with the sheets and the pillows. Donald and Goofy slept peacefully in their designated areas. The Gummi Ship hissed slightly as cold air began to settle around it, and some smoke emitted from the broken engine, but other than that, the night was peaceful. The strange contraption lying on the ground kept the wild dogs at bay, and the town was overall a quiet place after nine o'clock.
The only sounds that filled the air were the crickets humming their tune, the night birds singing their lulling lullabies, and the squeaking of springs as two boys stuck in a single bed trying to make themselves comfortable.
"Sora, you're touching me." growled Riku under breath, in attempts to not wake the sleeping Princess up.
"Well, I'm shoved up against the wall as far as my body can muster. Try making room, you lump," Sora's hushed reply came, his body squirming.
"If I move any farther, I'll fall off the frickin' bed. You obviously have no knowledge of personal space. You're too touchy-feely and emotional. You're like a woma- ouch!" Sora had delivered a quick kick to Riku's shin.
"Oh yeah? Well, mister 'I'm so much older than you and therefore am more mature,' why don't you-"
"I have a better idea. Why don't the two of you shut the hell up and take this like the men you are, or I'll be forced to contort you two into a terribly awkward position that would be impossible to get out of without breaking your backs." Came a snarl from pull-out cot, and both Riku and Sora looked over at the lump with wide eyes.
"…"
"'Night Riku…"
"Good night, Sora…"
----:::--------:::----
I thank everyone for the lovely reviews. Hopefully I'll be able to update as often as my readers would like. I don't believe there'll be spoilers…or any major spoilers to the game, considering this really has nothing to do with the real events of the game (man I hope I worded that in an understandable way). But they may make references to the past every now and then, so I can't guarantee this to be completely free of spoilers.
And I apologize for the grammatical errors and whatnot you'll probably find. Especially tense-wise…but hey, we can't all be perfect, can we?
Carry on my: Wayward Child
