(Everything that has a copyright, is copyrighted to their respective owners. Now, where did I put that Keyblade...?)

Oathkeeper

Chapter Three: New Surroundings

The battle was long, and hard. It should've been impossible. Really, it should've been. Even if he... beat that thing, it should've been impossible! He did things that he knew he couldn't, swung the odd sword with a speed he didn't have, hit the thing with strength he didn't have, it staggered. He fought wildly, and he should've lost. Why didn't he?!

Moreover, not only did he win, but... everything... was devoured, it was something he could feel. He had no home. It was... swallowed by the darkness. And... wait, he knew it swallowed him too! He fell into that inky sea as it devoured everything he had ever known. None of it was here, so he was somewhere else. Why. Why...? Why?!

No logic! None! He woke up to the rough feeling of a tongue running up the side of his face, and a dog of a breed he never even dreamed about ran off after two masters that disappeared around the corner. Nothing else that was swallowed was here, except for him. Why? Nobody he knew was here. Why? He had survived! Why? Why why why WHY?! The same question came over and over again, and the only answer was more of that damned word. Why?! He was walking through the streets of a town where it was night. The entire place had a quaint, homey quality to it, and it would've calmed him if he wasn't battering himself with the same question. Perhaps he was subconciously aware that should he have stopped asking, he would've become morbidly aware that he was the only one left.

He noticed that while there were no people in the streets, the place was far from deserted. Families were sitting down to dinners everywhere, and he could hear the home life from here. Quiet laughs, loud ones too. The clinking of glasses and silverware as they were set and put to use. Everyone here was happy. But... if they ended up here the same way he did... how could they be?

"..." A noise behind him, a strange cry of some sort. He knew that cry. They were after him, everybody again, and they were going to destroy this place too. He didn't bother looking for them as he wildly looked around for something to use as a weapon when convinently-

'Fwash!' And in his hand, out of a burst of light appeared a weapon. The Keyblade. The thing he used to defend himself and smite that titan that invaded, though his world still broke. And then a torrent of screams erupted around him. People began running down the streets with the black creatures in hot persuit. And those creatures stopped and looked at him as they passed. He was their target. He was the target for every single one... The sword didn't really feel right in his hand. Somewhat awkward it was, but... it was the only difference between the him that should've died, and the him that survived. He had his answer. Now, as long as they were after him...
"I'm going to make you work for your meal." A line regurgitated from a zombie movie he saw a while back but he didn't care. He sounded much more confident then he felt, but the creatures didn't seem to notice. Nor care. The front line attacked. And he couldn't help but think that he would rather they attack him, instead of those other people... was that brave? He could fight, so it made sense to defend these people. Though there wasn't a lot of active defending going on, more like 'swing at the things that think you happen to be more delicious'. And normally a defender used something that was meant to cut. This was not, but it still ran through these shadows like a machete and grass. And defenders were usually heroic. He sure wasn't.
"Rah!" He yelled as he brought up the Keyblade in a wide arch up to divide a leaping shadow, only to turn in mid swing and use his momentum to bring it down on the head of one that sprung for his ankles. Another attacker met his shoe, and he leapt to avoid a third. As another attacked him from below, on a flash of inspiration, he swung down and sliced it in half. The result was a beautiful forward flip slash, followed by a slightly clumsy dismount. The black creatures stopped for a second, reason unknown. And Sora realized what he just did. Something else he was not physically capable of doing. Despite this...
"Wow. That was kinda heroic... Maybe..." Then they attacked again, overwhelming him. The only option was to run.

"Wow... there sure are a lot today. Damn heartless, why can't they just leave this place alone? I mean, they broke the worlds, our worlds too, and they have to come in for the survivors?"
"This is only another world for them. The only similarity are the inhabitants. However... they are more aggressive then usual. Oh, Aerith, you're back." A woman had just walked out on the balcony where the two others were talking. She tucked one of her brown tresses behind her ear and settled the end of a strangely decorated quarterstaff against the ground. She spoke, a voice that soothed at it's sound. One new to hearing that voice would wonder if her quarterstaff was something she was holding for somebody else.
"The people are in the shelters, and are under close guard." And she smiled. "As long as everybody else is right... I don't think we've lost anybody!" A younger girl gave a short hop down from the balcony's railing, excitedly.
"You mean it? When they're this rowdy? That's incredible!" The man in the corner however, wasn't as happy as the girl.
"Aerith, one of the stars went out about an hour ago. Do you know of any new arrivals?" Aerith frowned.
"No, I don't... But... an hour? Would someone be out that long after a breaking?"
"Keep an eye out while you two clean up, to be sure. I wi- hold the phone..." Running out from under the balcony, a boy with spiky brown hair fought off heartless as they attacked and chased him. More ran out from alleyways, and spawned out of the ground around him. Pretty soon he was surounded by no less then fourteen. No more came out, thankfully. They paused, as the boy caught his breath. Looking and listening for the next attack. He took a stance with a odd looking sword.
"Wow, he must be from that world! Man, if he survived on his own, he must really be something! But... hey, no fair, he's younger then me!"
"Yuffie, how can you tell?" Aerith asked, looking on concernedly. That boy simply wasn't safe out there.
"Well... just look at him!"
"If you're going to look, do it right. Aerith, if you please?"
"Of course Leon." And Aerith concentrated, a spherical jewel in her staff shining momentarily. If you listened, you would've heard her mutter the word "Scan..." And a moment later, she looked up. The heartless had begun to attack one by one as if they simply couldn't help themselves anymore. The girl, Yuffie, watched as the distant Sora fended them off.
"Huh. He's definitely not our level. Kinda rough around the edges... Aerith?"
"That's... what? He's..."
"What is it?"
"He's no different from any other boy his age. No hidden power that I can find, nothing extraordanary at all. The way he was running, he must have killed several of them by now... He should have succumbed by now, nobody is that lucky." But as she said this, he had just finished them off, and began to look around wildly for more. "From what I could see, his senses were not attuned enough to detect the ones that attacked from behind, but he did anyway. Something isn't right here..."
"I'll find out. it's a good opportunity while there's a break. Get Cid and see about the rest of the cleanup. I'll see about the boy."
"Be safe Leon."
"I will." Yuffie however, had other things on her mind.
"Alright! Time to kick some ass, ninja style! Better keep up Aerith, I'll leave you behind!" Leon, seeing them off for a few seconds, reached for his belt and unsheathed his weapon. A cross between a sword, and a revolver that other people couldn't seem to accept at first glance. The last guy to see it for the first time thought it was ornamental. Fool.

Alright, he had a break. Maybe. They might be waiting for an oppritunity or something, they were tricky... wait, were they? Normally they would just scream and jump. Well... as far as he could tell, this was the first time they had actually left him alone. Did they get the message or something?
"Hey, kid." Sora whirled around violently and prepared to strike down the next shadow, nevermind that it spoke English or, wait, they didn't. Or did they? Well, whether they did or not, this was no shadow. This, was a man. And in his hand was some sort of wonky cross between a sword and... one of those western guns... six shooter- no, a revolver. What good would that sort of thing be? Well... either way it looked a lot more effective thin his. Best be on guard. A man was holding a weapon, and walking towards him.
"Who are you?" He stopped, and studied him.
"That's my line. If you don't know who I am, you haven't been here very long."
"What, you think you're some kind of big-shot?"
"It's a fact kid. I kill heartless here. And, if what I just saw was any indication, you can too." Heartless? There's a word he never heard used that way.
"Heartless? Those... shadows?" The brown haired man in front of him raised an eyebrow in responce.
"Yes. Those are heartless. You didn't know this?"
"Should I?" Really, should he? Come on, the first time he saw them outside a dream was... today? Maybe yesterday... how long was he out?
"No, I don't suppose you have to know... what kind of weapon is that?"
"What, this Keyblade?" That caused him to raise his eyebrows. Well, he thought it was ridiculous too but...
"Keyblade? That's the Keyblade?"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"It looks like a toy."
"S-shut up!" The man was silent. His eyes were on the sword in Sora's right hand. He... was silent for a while... "Hey, don't you have anything else to say? You're kinda creepy standing there like that."
"You told me to shut up. Why would I be talking to you after that? Make up your mind before you speak."
"Huh? But..."
"Hm, well in any case, let me take a look at that Keyblade of yours." Wait, what? No, this was his defense. He could go find his own!
"No way you're getting this!" He moved back into a battle stance. If this guy was going to take his sword, he was going to have to fight him for it!
"Hey, I just want to look at it. Hand it over."
"The heck I will! You think you're convincing saying it like that?!" He seemed to consider that.
"...No, I suppose I should've chosen a more trustworthy phrase. Well... if I have to. Let's see what the Keyblader can do." He stepped forward in a practiced motion of footwork, and attacked. The first strike Sora could block, but then a second came too quickly and struck from an awkward angle. The Keyblade flew out of his grip. And Sora stood there completely unsure of what to do from there. The strange man walked past him, and towards the fallen sword. There was no way he could get it no- huh? 'Fwash!' Wait, he got it. How? In a flash of light, it disappeared and reappeared in his hand. And the man began to turn around to face him. An opening!
"Yah!" 'Clang!' "Ah!" And again, he was disarmed. He picked himself off the ground, just in time to catch the Keyblade when it phased back into his hand.
"... I see..." Was all he could say as he relaxed out of his stance. "We're getting nowhere. You know that if necessary, I can kill you for that sword. Hand it over, it'll be a lot easier on the both of us if you do."
"Uh..." And then he heard the shadow's cry again. The man's head whipped around to where the cry came from. It sounded again, closer.
"Argh, we don't have time for this... Give it to me."
"Hey, they're coming! You've got your own weapon! If you want a Keyblade too, get your own!"
"Fine. If you want it rough, be my guest." His eyes narrowed, as he concentrated. He uttered a word with a lot of power behind it. A word of command. 'Stop...' And he disappeared from Sora's view. In the same instant, the weight of several blows was felt all at once. The wind was knocked out of him, he flew backwards from three hammering attacks to his head, and body. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. The man turned, assured that the boy would not stir, only to discover that there were no heartless dashing out of the darkness to feast. Instead, there was something almost as bad.
"Hi Leon! Hey, how'd it g- oh! What did you do to him!?"
"What was unnecessary. At least, I thought it was unnecessary."
"Come on, you need to hold back for a kid like him!" Leon scoffed.
"Yuffie, if I held back for that purpose, I would have to hold back for you too."
"Hey! I am not a kid! I'm the great ninja Yu-"
"Fine, whatever you need to tell yourself. Grab that sword. I'll carry him." She puffed up in indignation, but obeyed. Leon gathered the boy up carefully, perhaps in some sort of apology for the beating. He sighed. When this kid woke up, he was going to have a lot of questions.
"Hey, you didn't appologize! Bastard, I'll put a shuriken so far up your ass you'll be spitting sharp things for a week!" Leon sighed again.