Chapter Six: Glimpse of the Future

Thunder crashed, lightning cracked across the sky, and it rained buckets upon the home of the Chasers. A miserable, miserable afternoon indeed, which was why they were all crowded in Ven's room, playing cards, eating ice cream, and dripping ice cream on Ven's bed-sheets. Admittedly, none of them were particularly good at Hearts, the game they had chosen to play, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Aqua took a bite out of her chocolate ice cream bar, studying her cards with an intense expression on her face. She was winning so far, having taken many high cards and no hearts at all. Terra was losing rather pathetically, having gotten every Heart so far. The only card with a negative worth left was the Queen of Spades. Aqua eyed it, as the card in question rested in her own hand. She looked up, watching Ven chomp on his strangely colored ice cream, and cringed. "Ven, how do you eat that stuff?"

"Sea Salt ice cream is amazing!" Ven protested. "What else is salty and then turns into sweet? Besides, it's a cool color."

"Strangely colored ice thing on a stick." Xehanort chuckled. "If you eat too much of that, Ven, you might turn blue." Ven's only response was to childishly stick his tongue out at the other. He laid down his card, a four of Spades, and waited.

Xehanort went next, putting down an eight of Diamonds. Terra scowled at his hand before putting down the King of Clubs. Aqua smirked. She tossed the Queen of Spades on top of the pile, and pushed it towards Terra. "Your trick, Terra."

He rolled his eyes. "Brilliant. Now I have them all. What is that? Negative two hundred?"

"Nothing so dramatic." Xehanort said. "Actually, you just won." He watched as all three of his companions eyed the final hand of the game suspiciously.

"How!?!" Ven demanded, dripping ice cream.

"Terra shot the moon. He got every Heart and the Queen. He gets plus twenty-six."

Aqua groaned. "Shooting the Moon! How could I forget?" She scowled, as each player tossed several hundred munny across the room at him. He grinned, catching it all and pocketing it, saying smugly, "Don't bet against your Leader, children."

"Children!?!" Ven and Aqua cried together. Both leaped at him, as Xehanort called in the background, "You named yourself leader! And you're only a year or two older!" In the ensuing scuffle, Ven's melting Sea Salt ice cream sailed into the air, landing with a wet splat in Terra's hair. Blue dripped down through his long bangs, around his face, and he let out a very undignified yelp.

The scuffle was interrupted by a loud racket downstairs. All of the Chasers immediately were on their feet. Their home had never been attacked, but it was always a distinct possibility. They crept downstairs, carefully being silent, and stopped at the sight. A seventeen year old boy stood in the center of their foyer, dripping water all over the plush carpet. His hair was ink-black, and he stared up at them in confusion.

"Where am I? Who are you?" he demanded. Terra stepped forward, Keyblade held loosely at his side and ignoring the ice cream still in his hair, he addressed the boy sternly, "This is our home. Who are you?"

"My name is Braig." the boy hissed. He shivered, looking around.

Terra sighed. "I am Terra. This is Ven, Aqua, and Xehanort." Aqua came towards Braig, putting a blanket around his shoulders. He accepted it gratefully, still nervous around them. But as he started to warm up, and began to think clearly, he could see that they made for a very funny picture indeed. Terra, with pale blue melted into his hair, wearing just pants and a shirt covered in chocolate smears from Aqua attacking him with her ice cream stick. Ven in pajamas covered in clouds, his hair a mess. Aqua with grey pajamas and, unknown to her, cards stuck to her back from where she'd rolled on them. Xehanort looking the most collected, except for strawberry ice cream that had somehow gotten into his eyebrows. Braig began to laugh, finally seeming to accept their hospitality.

Upon questioning him, they realized he was a year younger than Ven, Xehanort, and Aqua, and he was an orphan. He was off to make his fortune in the world as a sharpshooter. During the time he stayed with them, he became close to Xehanort, getting along well with him. He had been shocked to learn that the scruffy, ice-cream-covered people he had met were actually Chasers, the guardians of the entire multiverse and Kingdom Hearts against the darkness. He had found that unexplainably hilarious.

When Braig finally bid them goodbye, he promised to remember them, and come back and visit. Terra, without a real reason why, found himself wondering if the sharpshooter would ever get the chance.

Hehe, they're playing 'Hearts'. Believe it or not, I did that by accident.

Li