Into the Desert

L.A.: After a little delay, here's the next chapter!

Sora was on Destiny Isles again. How he had missed it. The rolling surf, the white sand beaches, the warm sun... Why had he taken this place for granted?

He sighed as he closed his eyes enjoying the sun. A moment later, he opened his eyes as a thought occurred to him. Where was everyone?

He was on the small island now. The island where the papou trees grew. The sun was setting and he noticed a girl sitting on the tree trunk in front of them. Kairi, he thought.

He grinned as he grabbed a papou fruit. He was going to finally confess his feelings for her. He approached her and tapped her shoulder. She turned to face him.

It wasn't Kairi though. It was Rin.

Instead of being surprised, his smile grew bigger as he took a bite from the fruit and he handed it to her. She smiled as well. She was about to take a bite…

"I don't like her like that," Sora said as he sat up straight, panting.

"Okay," Donald said, looking at Sora as if he were an idiot. "Whatever you say."

Looking around, Sora saw he was on the Gummi Ship. He must have fallen asleep.

He turned around when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Rin frowned. "Hey are you okay?"

Seeing her made him blush. "Uh, yeah, sure. Just dreamed I was married to a witch, weird huh?"

"Yeah it is," Rin said, though she didn't look completely convinced.

Sora sighed as he leaned back in his seat. What had that dream been about? He liked Kairi not Rin.

Sure Rin was special in her own way. She was funny, sweet, and kind but that didn't mean he was in love with her.

Why are dreams so complicated? He thought.

"Land ahead," Goofy said.

Wolf watched as Maleficent and a wicked looking man named Jafar talked. They were in the land of Agrabah searching for something important for Maleficent's plan. Judging by Maleficent's smile, they were close to finding it.

Riku shifted his weight beside Wolf, obviously impatient.

Wolf was worried about the boy. If you just looked at Riku, he seemed fine however, Wolf could smell the darkness slowly wrapping itself around him.

Though he didn't know the boy well, he still didn't want the boy to be lost to darkness. If there was only a way to slow the process down…

"And the Keyhole?" Maleficent asked causing Wolf to snap out of his reveleries.

"The Heartless are searching for it now. I'm certain we'll find it soon enough. So, that just leaves…"

Jafar was interrupted by the squack of a loud fat red parrot. His name was Iago if Wolf remembered correctly.

"Jafar! I've looked everywhere for Jasmine. She's disappeared…like magic."

Jafar sighed. "The girl is more trouble than she's worth."

Maleficent's gaze narrowed. "You said you had things under control."

"Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in," Jafar said. He didn't seem concerned. "But why worry about Princess Jasmine? With or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the Keyhole."

"We need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless."

Wolf's ears perked. This was the first he had heard of princesses and a final door. What was Maleficent planning?

"Well, if the princess is that important, we'll find her." He snapped his fingers and a Heartless appeared beside him. "Find Jasmine," He said to the heartless. "Bring her to me at once."

The Heartless nodded before disappearing.

"Don't steep yourself in the darkness too long," Malifcent said. "The Heartless consume the careless."

Jafar laughed. "Your concern is touching but hardly necessary."

Wolf sniffed the air. There was someone else there. Turning in the direction of the scent, he saw a young girl with long raven hair and dressed in blue quickly hide behind a barrel. She had a tiara on her head. She stared at him intently.

He growled slightly and she took off running.

"Something wrong?" Riku asked.

"Nothing," Wolf said as he turned his attention back to Malificent and Jafar. "Just a rat."

"Wow," Rin said as she fanned herself. "It's sure is hot."

"Well, we are in a desert," Donald said.

"Jungles, deserts, creepy grinning cat worlds," Rin sighed. "We just can't catch a break, huh?"

"It wouldn't be an adventure then, would it?"Sora said.

As they turned the corner into an alleyway, some barrels shook at the far end. Everyone withdrew their weapons.

"Hello?" a young slightly scared female voice called out.

"Who's there?" Donald called out.

A young girl with raven hair stepped out from behind the barrels. "I'm Jasmine," she said. "My father is the sultan of Agrabah."

"Uh," Goofy scratched his head. "So that makes you a princess?"

Jasmine studied them for a moment. "You're not working for Jafar, are you?"

"Who's Jafar?" Rin asked.

"He was the royal vizier, but he put my father in jail and now controls the city."

"How did he do that?" Sora sked.

"He gained some sort of evil power…Heartless I think he called it. He's desperately looking for something he calls a keyhole. Jafar caught me trying to escape, but…" Her eyes had a dreamy look to them. "…he helped me."

"Who helped you?" Goofy asked.

Jasmine still had a dreamy look in her eye. "We were hiding nearby, but he left a while ago to take care of something…" She sighed. "I hope Aladdin's all right."

"Aladdin?" a voice said behind them. "Where might I find this street rat?"

They turned to face the speaker. One look and Rin could tell it was Jafar.

"Jasmine," he said. "Allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess. These little rats won't do, you see."

Sora stood protectively in front of her. His Keyblade raised. "Jasmine run."

Jasmine nodded and took off running. The others came to stand beside Sora.

"Ah, the boy who holds the key," Jafar snapped his fingers as several heartless materialized infront of him. "Sadly I don't have time for you." He motioned to the Heartless. "Take care of them." He left.

They charged at the heartless. It didn't take long to dispose of them.

Rin sighed. "Ever notice that the bad guys always send minions to do their work?"

"They wouldn't be bad guys if they didn't," Sora said.

"Hey," Goofy said as he pointed to a small building. It looked like someone lived inside. "There something going on in there."

They listened and could hear rustling sounds coming from inside.

"Could be a heartless," Rin said.

"Or it could be someone in trouble," Sora said. "Come on. Let's check it out."

Once they went inside, they found the source of the noise. It was a carpet flapping frantically underneath a wardrobe.

"Is that what I think it is?" Rin said.

"Looks like it," Sora said.

"A real magic carpet," Rin said.

"Well let's free it," Sora said, "It might be able to help us."

They moved the wardrobe. As soon as it was free, the Carpet sprung ino the air. It wrapped itself around each one of them as if it were giving them a hug.

"You're welcome," Rin laughed.

It flew to the window. It motioned to the desert then motioned to them.

"I think it wants us to go with it," Donald said.

"To the desert?" Rin asked.

"Gawrsh," Goofy said, "it must be important if it wants us to come."

"Then let's go," Sora said. "Maybe it'll lead us to Aladdin and the Keyhole."

"Oh boy," Rin said. "Into the desert, fun…"

L.A.: Hopefully I can update next week. You know what to do. READ and REVIEW!