Hello again! Today, we are starting the chapter in Traverse Town! Geez, I'm so excited. I hope you are too. Sorry, I didn't put Darkside as an enemy. I just couldn't work that into the plot. I put him into Sora's Dive to the Heart, but not as an official enemy. Anyway, let's begin!

Chapter Five

Out There

I woke up to a dog licking my face.

I thought it was just a dream, but when the dog playfully tackled me, I knew it wasn't a dream. I was awake in a strange place.

I could still sense the dark creatures around me, but it didn't interfere as much because I had adjusted to their large presence.

Only Sora was here. I woke him up eagerly, not wanting to be alone.

"Sora, do you know where we are?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "No idea."

We looked around to see if anyone we knew was here, like Kairi or Riku.

However, we only noticed what was the obvious: We weren't on the islands and we were on a totally different world.

We walked into the Accessory Shop, thinking we could ask someone where we were.

"Hey, how can I—" The man at the counter started to say. "Oh, never mind. It's just some kids.

"Hey! We aren't kids!" Sora and I both exclaimed at the same time.

"And my name's Sora." Sora introduced himself.

"Luna." I continued.

"Well, Sora, Luna, why the sad faces?" He asked.

"Where are we?" I answered with another question.

"Huh?" The man was puzzled, until we explained our situation.

"Traverse Town…" I said.

"So, gramps, are we really in another world?" Sora asked excitedly.

"Don't call me gramps! The name's Cid. And you defiantly aren't on your islands anymore." He scoffed.

Cid continued. "Why don't you look around and see if your friends are here? Come back, if you need any help." Cid suggested.

"Thanks." I said and Sora and I left the shop.

We continued looking around in hopes of finding Riku and Kairi. The first district (the district we arrived at) had no dark creatures, but the second district did. With our new weapons, we wiped out the creatures easily.

We did notice, however, that a shadow was chasing a person. And when the person tripped and fell, the heart floated away and that person became a shadow as well.

After looking and fighting the entire second district, we headed to the third district.

"These shadows are annoying. Easy to kill, but there are so many of them!" I complained after we finished off the third district.

"Just what are these creatures?" He asked, not to me, but to the world.

We both went back to the Accessory Shop to see Cid.

"What are we supposed to do now?" I asked him.

"I have no idea. Maybe you should talk to some other people and see if they can help you."

We nodded in agreement and headed outside.

A voice suddenly shocked us. "They'll come at you out of nowhere."

"Who are you?" Sora and I asked him at the same time.

"And they'll keep coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the keyblades." The man pointed at our weapons.

I stared at it. This was a keyblade?

My head began to hurt. Why does that seem so familiar? And why can't I remember it?

Sora started angrily at the man as he continued. "But why? Why would it choose some kids like you?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I questioned.

"Never mind. Now, let's see those keyblades."

"What? There's no way you're getting this." Sora yelled at him.

I sensed him now. He had a weapon of his own and I could tell he was skilled. I knew our amateur skills wouldn't be able to defeat us, but I wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Alright, have it your way." He replied flatly.

The man charged at us, but we both dodged. Two against one was a lot easier than one against one.

I jumped from behind and swung at him, but he easily blocked.

Sora also tried to swing at him, but the guy's weapon overpowered Sora's and even hurt Sora a bit.

I was more surprised when he began using fire. He could both of us with the fire and trust me when I say: it was incredibly painful.

Sora and I continued attacking until we were both warn out. We were huffing and puffing until I finally collapsed.

All I remember hearing was, "Luna!"

In my dream, Sora and I were both knocked out, lying on the floor.

"Hey, you found them. Nice going Leon." A girl's voice said.

Leon? Was that the guy we fought?

"Still… It looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."

I woke slightly before Sora did. And when he did wake up, his reaction was quite funny.

"Are you okay?" The same girl from my dream asked us.

"Yeah." I replied instantly.

"I guess…" Sora responded.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the keyblades. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the keyblades." The girl explained.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Kairi." Sora said to the girl.

I giggled a bit. Sora was still half-asleep, because even though I couldn't see the girl, Kairi's presence was a lot different than the girl we were talking to."

"Kairi? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffie." Yuffie introduced.

"Huh?" Sora wiped his eyes. "Oh."

Now he was awake.

"I think you might have overdone it, Squall," Yuffie said, talking to the guy we had fought earlier.

Wasn't he Leon?

"That's Leon." He introduced himself. Ah, I was right.

"The keyblade?" Sora asked, still confused.

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that's how they were tracking you." Yuffie explained further.

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long." Leon stated.

"Sill, hard to believe out of everyone, you two were chosen." He took Sora's 'keyblade' and swung it to the side.

It suddenly disappeared from Leon's hand and appeared in Sora's hand.

"Why don't you start making sense? What's going on here?" Sora angrily asked.

"Is it true there are other worlds? That each star is the heart of a world?" I suddenly blurted. Wait, how did I know that?

Both of them nodded.

Yuffie suddenly came real close to me, until we were only a breath apart. She stared at me with large eyes, right at my face.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Are you… blind?" She questioned.

"Yeah? So?" I replied.

"Well, how do you know not to bump into anything?"

"Too difficult to explain. I just sort of 'sense' everything's presence and that's how I know where everything is."

Leon shook his head. "Anyway, the worlds have remained a secret until now because they haven't been connected before."

"When the heartless came, everything changed." Yuffie continued, looking down sadly.

"The heartless?" Sora asked.

"The ones who attacked you, you remember?" She explained.

Sora and I nodded.

"Those without hearts." Leon explained further. Wow, I thought, such a creative name.

"The darkness in people's hearts—that's what attracts them." Yuffie shared.

"And there is darkness within every heart." Leon concluded.

Suddenly, one of those 'heartless' creatures appeared.

"Leon!" Yuffie shrieked.

"Go!" Leon commanded and Yuffie obeyed. As she ran out of the room, another girl called out.

"Yuffie!" The other girl raced after her.

"Sora, Luna. Are you ready to fight?" Leon asked with a smirk on his face after he defeated the heartless.

"Yeah!" We both answered.

He headed to the alley in the second district.

"Don't bother with the small fry. Find the boss!" He commanded again.

There were a lot of heartless and more kept coming. It was slightly difficult, keeping up with the great amount of presence of darkness.

We finally found the 'boss' in the third district.

It was a large armor that had separated itself into five different pieces: a head, a torso, two arms, and two legs.

Sora and I were ready to fight until I heard screams from above us. The next thing I knew, two people were falling from the sky and crashed right into us.

"Ouch!" I wailed.

The two 'people' were actually a duck and a weird-looking dog and they both exclaimed the same thing. "The key!"

I knew they were looking at Sora.

Finished part one of Traverse Town! Hope you enjoyed it. The chapters are getting longer, which for me, is a good thing. Anyway, I don't have a set update day, I'll just update whenever I can. Please review and tell me how you think of it so far!

~srose00