Welcome to the Jungle

L.A.: Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

They decided to move on to the next world. Well, Donald, Goofy, and Sora decided to. Rin wanted to go back to Traverse Town for a night's rest but she was overruled. She could sleep okay on the Gummy Ship but she was starting to crave a normal bed.

"Look," Goofy said as he pointed to something up ahead. "There's a new world. Maybe King Mickey's on there."

A world completely covered in dense jungle lay before them.

Donald scrunched his bill. "In a backwater place like that?" Donald shook his head. "No way. Let's move on."

Sora frowned as he crossed his arms. "Hold on, Riku and Kairi might be down there. Let's check it out."

"You never know," Rin added, "your king could have crash-landed there."

Donald shook his head again as he hunched over the wheel. "Forget it. There's no way our king would be stuck down there. Besides, we're on an important mission."

"How do you know?" Sora asked.

"I just do," Donald said.

Rin and Goofy traded uneasy glances as they watched Donald and Sora glare at each other.

"Why do I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen?" Rin muttered.

Sora reached over and grabbed the wheel from Donald. "Just land."

The Gummy Ship dove right sharply.

Donald jerked the wheel from Sora's grasp. "No."

The Gummy Ship dove left sharply.

Goofy and Rin held on to each other for dear life. "Are they crazy?" Rin asked. Goofy was too scared to speak.

Sora pulled the wheel away from Donald again. "Come on Donald."

The Gummy Ship flipped twice to the right.

Donald gained control again. "No."

The Gummy Ship flipped twice to the left.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Goofy moaned as his face turned green.

"Just don't throw up on me," Rin said.

A big red shiny button caught Sora's eye. "We're landing." With a grin, he pushed the big red shiny button.

Donald's face turned bright red. "Don't touch that! Nooo!" But he was already too late. The Gummy Ship jerked to a stop and sat there as if it were suspended in time. The next second, they were hurdling down toward the world below. Donald and Sora turned back and looked at Rin and Goofy with guilty faces. Rin glared at them while Goofy covered his eyes.

"If we live through this," Rin yelled over the roar of the engine. "I'm going to make sure you regret it."

They all screamed as the Gummy Ship plummeted to the world below.

Sora woke up with a groan. The first thing he saw was the human-size hole in the thatched roof ceiling above him. I must have fallen through there, he thought as he slowly sat up rubbing his head. Looking around, he realized he was in a tree house. Is this a dream? He thought. His head throbbed again forcing him back to reality.

"Oww…my head…" He held his head as he called out. "Rin? Donald? Goofy?"

There was no response.

Sora groaned again as he slowly stood up. "Great, things can't possibly get worse."

A loud growl snapped Sora out of his thoughts. Looking up in the rafters, Sora saw a large jaguar. Its hungry eyes bore into him as it readied itself to pounce.

You have got to be kidding me, he thought as he held out his hand to summon the Keyblade. If I don't hurry, that stupid jaguar going to get me.

As he brought the Keyblade up to block the jaguar's attack, it swiped the Keyblade out of its way with its massive claws. The force of the blow sent Sora slamming into a nearby wall. With the breath knocked out of him, Sora forced himself to stand on his wobbly legs. The jaguar lunged at him. Before it could make contact, a brown haired man wearing only a loincloth came swooping in from the rafters and kicked the jaguar out of the way. The man and jaguar glare at each other for a moment. The jaguar let out a hiss before jumping out a nearby window.

The man relaxed as he turned to face Sora. His brown eyes bored into him. "Sabor, danger."

Sora scratched the back of his neck and grinned awkwardly. The man's staring was starting to make him a little nervous. "Um… thank you."

The man cocked his head. "Thank you?"

Why is he thanking me? Sora thought as the man continued to stare at him. "Uh, what is this place?"

The man grinned happily. "This place, this place."

This guy's a little weird. He just keeps copying everything I say. Sora decided to change the subject. "Okaaay… Look I got separated from my friends. Have you seen them?"

The man frowned in confusion.

"Friends…" Sora said as he waved his hands in the air in a desperate attempt to make him to understand.

The man's face lit up. "Friends!"

Sora sighed in relief. "Right, my friends. There's three of them. The loud one is Dona-"

The man shook his head to show that he didn't understand.

Now that Sora thought about it, it didn't matter if he found Donald and Goofy. It was Donald's fault that we got separated anyway. If he really cares, he can look for me. He turned his gaze back to the man. "You know what? Never mind. I'm looking for my friends Riku, Rin, and Kairi."

"Look for Riku, friends?" The man asked curiously.

Sora nodded. "Right."

"Rin, friends?"

"Yes," Sora could feel himself growing impatient.

Something moved in Sora's peripheral vision. As he looked, he saw Kairi slowly walking around the circumference of the room. Am I seeing things? Sora thought as he rubbed his eyes.

The man cocked his head. "Kairi, friends?"

"Uhh… right," Sora was still staring at Kairi.

She turned and winked at him before disappearing. Sora blinked a couple of times and rubbed his head. I must have hit my head harder than I thought.

"Friends, here," the man said interrupting Sora's thoughts.

Sora looked back in surprise. "Really?"

The man grunted as he pounded his chest with his hand. "Oh…Oh…Ah…. Friends here."

Sora shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure I understand, but show me. Take me to Rin, Riku, and Kairi."

The man pointed to himself. "Tarzan," he said," Tarzan go."

"Oh," Sora said realizing that Tarzan was the man's name. "I'm Sora…" He pantomimed walking. "Tarzan go, Sora go go!"

Tarzan looked at Sora as if he was crazy for a moment before leaving the tree house.

Great, now he thinks I'm weird, Sora thought as he followed Tarzan. Well, at least I got my point across.

As he stepped out into the sunlight, he was greeted by an endless green forest. Sora frowned. I hope the others are all right. Sora thought as he hurried to catch up with Tarzan.

"Stupid bamboo. Stupid rock. Stupid forest. Stupid world." Donald yelled as he kicked a rock. After the crash, Goofy and Donald woke up to find themselves in a bamboo thicket.

Goofy sighed as he looked around. "Gawrsh, where are we? I sure hope Sora and Rin are okay."

Donald rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Aw, who needs them? We can find the king without their help…Huh?" A rustle from behind him caught his attention. Donald whirled around and came face to face with a young gorilla. They both stood still staring at each other. A second later, they both screamed as they ran in opposite directions. The gorilla dropped something as it left.

"Huh? What's this?" Goofy said as he picked up the object.

"L-Looks like a Gummy Block" Donald stuttered from behind Goofy.

"Gawrsh, do you think it could be the king's?" Goofy asked.

"Can't be," Donald said as he turned the block around in his hands.

A gunshot went off causing both of them to jump.

"Uh, Donald, I think we're about to have company," Goofy said.

Rin sighed as she stood impatiently in front of the airport. She had been waiting for fifteen minutes and still no sign of her parents. You'd think they'd want to see their daughter after she was gone a week, Rin thought as she played with the sticker on her luggage.

She grinned when a green sudan pulled up to the curb. "Finally," she whispered as she walked toward it. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who stepped out of the car. Instead of her parents, it was her uncle.

"Hope you don't mind," her uncle said as he approached her. "Your parents were busy with last minute errands so I volunteered to pick you up."

Rin shook her head. "No, I'm glad. I just didn't think I'd see you since you've been so busy."

Her uncle laughed as he picked up her luggage. "The boss gave us some time off so I figured I'd take advantage of it." He motioned to the car. "Go ahead and get in while I put your luggage in the back."

Rin slipped into the front seat. A whine from the back caused her to grin as she turned around. "Caleb!"

The German Shepard let out a happy bark as Rin scratched behind his ears.

"I'd thought you'd want your dog want to greet you,"her uncle said as he slipped into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, ack!" She winced when Caleb licked her across the face. "You'd think I'd been gone for ages."

"How was camp?" Her uncle asked as he slowly pulled into traffic.

"Not too bad," Rin said as she leaned back into her seat. "But that's boring, tell me about the game."

"Sales are looking good and the reviews are positive," her uncle said, however there was a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked.

"It's nothing," her uncle quickly said. He gaze trailed away from the road for a second. "Just…there's been some glitches in the software." He looked back at the road. "I'm worried of what will hap…" His eyes widened as he slammed on the brakes.

Rin clutched her seat as she looked ahead. A familiar black creature with black antennas and glowing yellow eyes was in the middle of the road and they were about to hit it.

"Is that a…"

She was cut off when darkness surrounded her. The last thing she heard was Caleb's alarmed bark and her uncle whispering. "What have we done?"

Rin woke up to a sea of green. Trees surrounded her on all sides. "Rin? Rin, are you okay?" A worried voice asked. Rin looked down to see Jiminy standing on her chest with a frown on his face.

Rin smiled. "Hey Jiminy, how long was I out?"

Jiminy relaxed slightly. "For about an hour. I was afraid that you might never wake up."

Rin grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I guess I was knocked out from the fall." She tried to sit up. Pain shot through her left ankle causing her to grimace.

"When you landed, a log fell on your ankle. I tried to move it but…" Jiminy looked himself up and down. "…as you can see I'm afraid I couldn't really do much."

Rin shook her head. Jiminy hopped off her chest as she sat up and tried to push the log off. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I think I only twisted it." The log refused to budge. Rin let out a sigh as she leaned back on her hands. The pain in her ankle had begun to throb. She tried to block the pain out of her mind. At least the Heartstaff didn't weigh as much as it used to. In fact, it almost felt like it wasn't even there.

Her face paled as she patted her back. "Jiminy? Where's the Heartstaff?" she asked trying to keep her voice steady.

Jiminy pointed behind her. "When we landed, it flew off over there."

Rin looked behind her to find the Heartstaff lying on a pile of leaves. She let out a sigh of relief.

"If you want I can try to roll it to you," Jiminy said, trying to look taller than he was.

Rin smiled. "No, that's all right. As soon as I get this dumb log off, I'll go get it myself."

A rustle from the foliage caught their attention. Three monkey-like heartless stepped out from behind the trees. All three stared at her, their eyes filled with hunger.

"Oh boy, this doesn't look good." Rin mumbled as she leaned back and reached for the Heartstaff. It was just past her fingertips. She grumbled in frustration as she pushed on the log. It wouldn't budge.

The three heartless slowly advanced, laughter in their cold eyes.

"Uh Jiminy," Rin whispered to the little cricket beside her. "We need to come up with a new plan and fast."

One of the heartless grew impatient. It sprung at her. Before she could react, a figure jumped in between her and the heartless. It knocked the heartless away as if it were a mere toy. Less than a second later, it attacked the other two destroying them instantly. Seeing that its comrades were defeated, the last heartless quickly stood up and raced into the forest. The figure stood catching its breath. When it turned around, Rin let out a gasp.

It was the heartless wolf from Traverse Town.

"What do you want with us?" Jiminy said as he crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.

The heartless wolf lowered himself to the ground. "Please, I don't mean any harm. I only wish to help."

Rin wasn't sure why; but, in her heart, she felt that she could trust him.

The wolf slowly crawled toward her. If she wasn't in shock, she might have laughed at how comical he looked.

When he finally reached her, he sat up. "I'm going to remove the log now." Rin and Jiminy watched as he effortlessly lifted the log off her ankle and set it to the side.

Pain surged through Rin's body as she quickly brought her legs to her chest. Her ankle was swollen two times its normal size and was a yellowish blue color.

The wolf's voice cut through the pain. "May I see your ankle?"

Rin looked at him for a moment before she slowly extended her ankle toward him. She winced slightly as he inspected it with his paw. "You've definitely twisted it. If you trust me, I can heal it. I will only fix it with your consent though."

"Don't let him, Rin," Jiminy whispered. "He's a heartless."

Rin continued to stare at the wolf. Then to both the wolf's and Jiminy's amazement, she slowly nodded.

The wolf smiled. "Qatch this." He placed his nose on her ankle. "Cura," he mumbled as a bright green light encircled her ankle. A soothing sensation ran through Rin's body. After the light died down, both Rin and Jiminy were surprised to see her ankle back to normal. She quickly stood up and tested her ankle. It worked perfectly.

"Wow," she said as she turned to face the wolf. "It's all better. Thank you so much for…" She trailed off realizing that the wolf was nowhere in sight. "He's gone."

"Thank goodness," Jiminy said as he began to scribble in his notebook. "The last thing we need is to have is a heartless stalking us."

"I'm not so sure he's evil," Rin said as she picked up the Heartstaff.

"How do you know?" Jiminy asked.

"I don't know," Rin said as she clinched the Heartstaff. "It's just a feeling."

Maleficent watched as Riku practiced with his sword in the courtyard below. Though he had only recently learned how to summon his sword, he was doing well against the heartless Maleficent let him practice on. "Soon," she whispered, "very soon he will be ready."

"Having fun watching your puppet, my liege?" Wolf asked as he walked into the room. Though he did not show it in his expression, Maleficent could tell he was still angry with her plan.

"He is doing fine," she said.

They stood in silence for a moment.

"This is wrong," Wolf blurted out. "He is just a kid."

Maleficent arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Since when have you grown a conscious?" She laughed slightly, returning her gaze to Riku. "Now go be a good boy and fetch my 'puppet' as you call him."

Wolf arched his back and growled. "No."

Her eyes narrowed. "You will do as I say. I am your master."

Wolf glared at her. "You are not my master and you never will be."

Maleficent's staff began to glow. "You dare speak back to me, heartless? Don't tell me you have already forgotten our contract."

Wolf began to twitch and squirm in pain as the staff grew brighter.

Malificent smiled, enjoying how vulnerable he looked. "I'm not stupid. I know of your little excursion earlier today."

Wolf's eyes widen in surprise. The staff slowly dimmed leaving Wolf to catch his breath.

Maleficent smirked. "Yes, I know about your connection with the keeper of the Heartstaff." She leaned in until she was barely an inch from his face. "And, if you want to continue to have that loophole your promise gives you, I suggest you do as I say. If not, I will make sure that your loophole in our contract is destroyed. That is a promise."

Wolf stood silent with his head bowed.

Satisfied, she continued as she slowly walked away. "Good, now bring Riku to the sanctuary for me."

"Yes, my liege," Wolf said in a monotone voice.

"That's my boy," Maleficent said, her voice oozing with sarcasm. "I can always count on you, can't I?"

L.A.: And that's the end of that chapter. You know what to do. READ and REVIEW!