"Unnh…" I moaned, pain filling my body. I was lying on cold, hard ground, covered in bruises. I got up.
What happened? I asked myself. Where am I? We were in the gummi ship, then we got attacked… is this Radiant Garden? I looked around. No giant castle, no ruins, no blue fields to be seen. Guess not.
I looked around. I was in the middle of a forest, on what appeared to be a well-used path. I wonder where it goes. I began following it, for I had nothing better to do.
Soon, I came upon a two-story wooden house. It had a small bridge going over a stream that ran through the path, and a large grave off to the side that had flowers lying in front of it. Suddenly, a loud 'CRASH!' came from the house. I ran up to the door and knocked.
"Hello?" I said, seeing if anyone was home. A few moments later, a squat man came out.
"Yes?" he asked with an accent. Looking inside, I saw that things were a mess.
"What happened? I heard a crash," I responded.
"I was attacked by those strange creatures that have been roaming about," he said.
"Strange creatures?"
"Aye. There have been some monsters roaming about of the likes nobody's seen before. They're black as night, and have little glowing yellow eyes,"
"Heartless!" I muttered.
"And just in time too, because I was getting ready to go to the Giant Kharlan Tree. But with these things about nowadays, I'm not sure I could make the trip. By the way, I'm Dirk," he said, extending his hand out.
"I'm Enri," I told him, shaking his hand. "If you wanted to go there, I could escort you."
"It'd be much appreciated, lad. How much?" he asked.
"Free of charge."
"It's a deal, then."
"Okay, when do we start?"
"As soon as I get my stuff together," Dirk responded, running back inside. I waited for around a minute until he came back out, carrying a large backpack with all sorts of odd things, including an anvil.
"You must be pretty strong, to carry that all around," I said.
"Well I'm a dwarf," Dirk told me, "it runs in my blood."
A dwarf?"I see. Well, if that's all, let's be on our way."
We walked for a while back through the forest, until we came upon the ruins of a small village.
"Whoa… what happened here?" I asked.
"It's those creatures. When they came, everyone here fled, trying to find protection in larger cities."
"Oh…" I responded.
After that, we headed south, and were soon in a large plain, and waiting for us was a small platoon of Heartless.
"Wait here," I told Dirk, and charged forward. Right before I reached them, I took out my keyblade, and slashed, hitting one. One of the others popped up out of the ground behind me, and I flipped over it, hitting it as I was directly above it. I knocked it up into the air, met it there, and slammed it back down into another, killing them both and releasing hearts up into the air. I directed my fall onto another, where I kicked it up into the air and off into the distance. The last one was defeated with a quick blow.
"There," I said.
"Thank you," Dirk said. Then, seeing my keyblade, he said, "That's an interesting sword you're carrying. Mind if I have a look at it?"
"Sure," I said, handing it to him.
He examined it closely. "Hmm… this is an interesting material it's made of. What is it?"
"Honestly, I don't really know," I told him.
"It's different from anything I've ever seen. Do you know why it resembles a key?"
"Well… not really."
"Well, it works. Best not complain, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Let's get moving. I want to be able to get to Ossa Trail before nightfall."
"Okay," I said. Ossa Trail?
We followed the road for a long time, passing by what resembled a church, until, nearing nightfall, we came to a trail leading up a mountain.
"This is Ossa Trail," Dirk notified me.
"Is this the only way over?" I asked.
"The only way that we can get over."
"Darn." My feet were aching, and I was longing for a break.
"Don't worry; we'll be staying here for the night."
THANK YOU!!! "Okay." Dirk took off his enormous backpack, and began rummaging around inside it. Soon, we began pitching a tent. As soon as that was done, we got inside and slept.
I don't know what time it was when I woke up, but it was still dark out. Unable to get back to sleep, I went out. The stars are different than the ones on my island, I observed. At least they look the same, even if they're different.
I continued watching the stars, until I began getting drowsy. Suddenly a rustle in the bushes startled me out of sleep. I got up, and looked for the source. Unable to find it, I began going back into the tent – and almost ran straight into a Heartless.
"Ah!" I yelled, hitting it with my keyblade. Soon, more joined it, surrounding the tent.
"Take this!" I exclaimed, hitting four or five with one strike. I slashed and stabbed at them, but more kept on coming. "Arrg! Why do they keep coming?" In a last-ditch effort, I gathered my remaining energy, and released it in a final blast, sending light energy everywhere.
It didn't work. They kept coming and coming, without end. I barely had a fighting chance anymore, with barely any energy to keep going. Just when I thought all hope was lost, eight strangers ran in to help me. I knelt, exhausted. Still wanting to help, I gathered whatever scraps of energy I had left within me, and got up.
With nine people, the fighting was a lot easier. It didn't take long for all of the Heartless to be defeated, leaving only their glowing hears floating up to the sky.
"Thanks," I panted, exhausted all over again.
"Don't mention it," replied a boy around my age (in the teens) who wore a red shirt, black pants, and wielded twin swords – one a glowing blue, and the other a fire-red.
"What are these things?" asked another, a girl about the same age who wore a purple kimono, and was holding a deck of cards with odd pictures on them.
"They're called Heartless," I told them. "I don't know why, just that they go around stealing people's hearts. I don't know why, just that they do. Who are you guys?" I asked out of curiosity.
"I'm Lloyd. And you are…?" he asked in return. However, before I got to respond, Dirk burst out of the tent.
"Lloyd! How're you doing?" he asked.
"Dad! I've been great. How about you?"
"I've been great, son," Dirk replied.
"So what're you doing around here?" Lloyd asked, curious.
"I've wanted to go to the Great Kharlan Tree for a while, so I've finally got around to it."
"Okay, that works," Lloyd responded.
"Dirk, are you sure that it's safe for someone like you to be travelling at times like this?" asked another person, a girl with white hair, wearing odd-looking orange clothes, and wielding a staff.
"As safe as it is for you, Raine. And besides, I've got him to protect me," Dirk replied, pointing at me. I blushed, for after the battle, I had all but collapsed of exhaustion.
"You never did tell me your name," said Lloyd.
"Right. I'm Enri," I panted. "Thanks for… helping out."
"Ah, no problem."
At this point, I couldn't stay awake any longer, and sleep overtook me.