The sound of roaring water crashing down woke Riku out of his stupor, pain racking through every part of his body. Slowly, his eyes blinked open, and he forced himself into a sitting position. The surroundings were just one of the odd things Riku took in.

For one, the waterfalls on all sides of him were moving upward and Riku had no idea where it even led to. Second, the ground seemed to be made of ice, explaining the cold chill Riku felt. There were several chunks floating in the air, and defying every law of gravity, some with some kind of structure on them.

"Where… Where am I…?" Riku's voice was small, and soon he recalled the storm before hand. He had gone to the island after he had seen something gathering at the top of it. With a shock, Riku remembered the others.

"Sora! Kairi!" Riku stood, clutching his head as dizziness swept over him. His voice echoed, telling him just how large the area was.

Are they alright? Are they here, somewhere? Breathing heavily to calm himself, Riku looked around once more.

"Kurow…?" He had stayed there, stayed in their home to wait out the storm in their room. If something had happened to his brother… Riku shook himself.

Standing around would help no one. He had to find the others. And that meant he had to find a way up those platforms…

"No luck, eh, kid?" Cid said, not turning around as Sora entered the Accessory Shop with a loud sigh.

"I couldn't find anyone - everywhere was empty." Sora replied, leaning on the counter, pouting.

"Don't worry about it, Sora. I'm sure your friends are somewhere here. Most everyone who's lost their world ends up here." Cid explained, closing up the glass case and turning to face the brunet. "Why don't you do another look around town? You might've just missed each other." He walked back behind the counter and ruffled the boy's hair.

Sora perked up at that thought and nodded. He rose to leave but before he could, Cid called out, "If you can't find 'em even after that, look for a fella with choppy brown hair, big sword. His name's Leon. Tell 'im Cid told you to find him."

"I will! Thanks Cid!"

Shutting the heavy door behind him, Sora looked around. Some of the large, flashing signs had dimmed, likely from the owner closing. The streets were nearly empty, aside from a Moogle and a few residents who had found themselves in situation similar to Sora's.

As he rounded the corner, Sora's grip on his keyblade tightened. The same creatures from the island had been appearing all over Traverse Town, relentlessly attacking Sora and anyone else who happened to be in the vicinity.

Just as Sora reached the entrance to the Second District after dispatching a small group of the creatures, a voice called out, "The Heartless won't stop coming after you. As long as you wield the keyblade, they'll hunt you down."

Sora turned and saw a man leaning against a wall, long brown hair down to his mid back, wearing a short black jacket with a fluffy white collar, with a tan shirt and long black pants. In his right hand he held what Sora thought to be a sword, the blade nearly touching the ground.

Stiffening, Sora cautiously asked, "Uh, you wouldn't happen to be Leon, would you? Cid told me to find you."

"Of course he would." Leon shook his head, and started over towards Sora. His eyes narrowed as he looked the boy over. "We must be in pretty tight spot if the keyblade chose a kid like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora muttered. "Nevermind. I'm looking for my friends; Kairi, Riku and Kurow. Kairi's got red hair, freckles, and she's about as tall as I am, and Riku and Kurow have silver hair and really icy eyes. You wouldn't have happened to see them, have you?"

Leon shook his head. "Sorry, kid. Nobody like that around here."

Sora's shoulders slumped, letting out a sigh. "Dang it."

Leon clapped a hand on Sora's shoulder, making him jump. "Don't worry. If they're anything like you, they're out there somewhere. You just have to find them." He pushed the door to the Second District open, and motioned with his free hand. "Come on. There's some things you need to learn about."

"So, the Heartless are after me because they want to destroy the keyblade?"

"Exactly, Sora. They fear it, because it's one of the few things that can completely destroy them." Leon explained.

"But - why me?" Sora held the weapon at arms length. Is this… why the islands are gone? And why we're all separated?

"The keyblade chooses its wielder. And I guess you had the makings for one." Yuffie said, staring at the ceiling as she laid on the bed.

"Tough luck, Sora. There's not much you can do now, except prepare yourself. The Heartless are relentless - they'll stop at nothing to get you." Walking over to the door, Leon turned to Yuffie, "We should join Aerith. Those two have to be with her by now."

"Leon!" Yuffie jumped, fumbling a shuriken in her hands, "Heartless!"

Sure enough, one had managed to appear in the room, one of the larger ones with armor and a strange emblem on it's chest. It rattled around for a moment and then made a motion toward them

"Yuffie!"

"On it Leon!" Yuffie dashed past the two throwing the door open. A startled cry of "Yuffie!" sounded as the raven haired girl barged in.

"Come on, Sora, let's go!" Leon brandished his weapon, knocking the Heartless into the street below. Leon jumped after it, and after a moment of hesitation, Sora followed suit.

Four more of the emblemed soldiers had appeared, at which Leon ordered, "Don't bother with the little ones! Look for the source and uproot it!"

As it turns out, that was easier said than done.

Sora had made his way through the Second District and into the Third, Heartless seeming to come from everywhere.

He rushed down the stairway, pausing only to catch his breath. As Sora rounded the corner, he saw what appeared to be a duck and a humanoid dog fighting Heartless. The two were surrounded, both the Soldier Heartless and the small shadows on every side.

Sora charged in, the duck giving a startled noise as he did. He focused the brunt of his attacks on the Soldiers, swinging until they disappeared into the air.

More shadows appeared, but the duck swung his staff, and with a cry of, "Fire!", flames jumped from one to another, and the dog knocked the last one into the stream of embers.

Letting out a breath, Sora clutched his arm. The wound from the island had re-opened, after a Shadow had managed to get a glancing hit on him.

"Here, Cure!" The duck raised his staff once again, and Sora's eyes widened as the wound closed, only the faintest traces of blood left.

Whoa… "Thanks, um…"

"Donald Duck." He replied, a proud look on his face.

The dog gave a small wave, his shield lowered by his side, "Goofy! Nice to meet ya!"

Sora grinned. "I'm Sora!"

Just as they got the greetings out of the way, the ground shook, pillars of stone rising out of the ground and blocking off any entrance or exit.

The three resumed their battle stances, just as what appeared to be silver and blue armor dropped from the sky.

"What the…?" Donald stared at it for a moment, then gave a startled quack as it rose off of the ground.

The armor spun, assembling itself into a humanoid shape, the head crashing down into place after a moment.

That must be another Heartless… Sora ducked into a roll as it swung its arms, knocking Goofy off one way and Donald another.

"Fire! Fire!" Two more bursts of flame rose from Donald's staff, straight into the arm that sent them flying. It fell to floor, rattled for a moment, then disappeared just as any other Heartless did.

That's it…! "Donald! Goofy! Go for the limbs first!" Sora yelled, receiving a nod and thumbs up in response. Sora managed to keep the Heartless' focused on him, as Goofy and Donald whittled away at the other three body parts. As soon as the last one dropped, Sora rushed in, swinging with all he had.

The armor made one last rattling motion, crashing down with a loud 'Boom!' The helmet fell off and a large heart floated out of it as the last of the armor faded.

Letting out a breath, Sora turned to the other two, one of which was narrowing his eyes at Sora. More specifically, at Sora's keyblade.

"Gawrsh, Donald, d'you think that's what the King meant by 'key'?" Goofy wondered, tilting his head as he asked.

"Wait, were you guys looking for me or something?" Sora looked between the two, his keyblade disappearing in a burst light. A nod from both of them gave Sora his answer.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones looking for the wielder of the keyblade, huh, Squall?"

Sora glanced back, seeing Leon and Yuffie had arrived. Yuffie gave a small smile.

"Why don't you come with us? Our ship can fly us to other worlds." Goofy said.

"Other worlds… I might be able to Kairi, and Riku, and Kurow…" Sora clutched his necklace, worry evident on his face.

"Of course you could!" Donald assured, pulled aside by Goofy after a moment.

"You should go with them." Leon clapped Sora's shoulder, making the boy jump. "There was no sign of your friends here, so it's possible they ended up in another world. Going with them is your best chance to find them."

"Yeah… Yeah!" Sora clenched his fists, looking determined.

Donald reached a hand and Goofy did the same, his on top of Donald's. "All for one.."

"And one for all."Goofy finished, giving a laugh.

Sora placed his hand on top of Goofy's, his resolve to find his friends even stronger than before.

"Think you've got it Sora?" Donald asked, staff resting on his shoulder.

"I think so… I'll just yell really loudly when I'm about to cast it." Sora replied, looking over the burnt boards. At least it was nothing important?

"I think we're ready to Donald, Sora!" Goofy ran up, pausing and retrieving something out of his pockets.

"Here, Sora. It's a potion, just in case we get hurt and Donald doesn't have the magic to heal." Goofy explained, handing one to each of them.

"Exactly why you shouldn't use your magic willy-nilly Sora!" Donald said, glaring pointedly at the brunet.

"Okay, okay I get it Donald! Can we leave now, Goofy?" Sora asked.

"I think that was everything… So, I guess we are!"

"Our ship's just outside. Come on, Sora!"

Just a little longer, you guys...