Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep:Destiny's Recall~Ven's Story, Book 1, Chapter 2~Capture and the Creep~

NOTE: Welcome my readers and loyal fans(I really wish), today I bring you another chapter of my new story, Birth by Sleep:Destiny's Recall. Sorry the last one was so long! I just thought that it would move the story along a lot faster if I put all that in one whole chapter. :), which, I didn't do so well with that kind of thing in BBS Zero. But anyways, I have also added a note to thank my reviewer ShinobiMatt, who has also been kind enough to do the same for a lot of chapters in BBS Zero. That's all for this day, my friends. Please enjoy the rest of the story of Mr. Toshi, the kid who everyone disses on and expects him to be happy to not fight back, which it pleasantly surprises them when he lets them have it.

The author of this story,

~Eternal Symphonia~

Terra and I both landed heavily on the cobblestoned earth when his feet met the pavement, while the other traveler, a feminine presence who seemed to be about fifteen or sixteen, gracefully alighted down like an angel sent on a mission to the world below. Her armor-like shoes barely even made a noise when they greeted the ground as if there was a pliable layer of cushion between her and the pale apricot field underneath. The two of them both hesitated their rushed ascent into the unknown to give each other a curt nod of agreement. Of what they both decided on together, I did not know. Maybe beforehand they had cooked up a nice plan that could go two ways; and since it went this way, they figured they should go with the first idea, or the second, or the third. Whatever way it was, I still was completely confused and too focused on escaping the crushing arm of the male teen who held me to even care. As if on a silent signal from either of the team, they both sprinted off at a pretty breakneck dart. It didn't seem to phase Terra when I made the decision to clamp my teeth down on his shackle-like arm. I was forced to stop after I had begun to laugh at how it reminded me of the recent dream of mine and the Unverse. Why would I chuckle at that, though? From what I remembered, it had been quite painful, but here I was cackling about it. Right there and then, the scar that had been scored across my forehead started to burn like the hell fires of oblivion; I squinted as the burden weighed down on my face and gritted my teeth, showing my discontent and hoping they wouldn't see.

Of course, Terra decided to ask about it when he noticed that I was trying to face the other way, "Trying to hide your face from the world to prevent more people becoming blind?"

I spat and replied, "And why wouldn't you say that to someone?" Truthfully, I was really trying to remind him of the tactful way of acting around people that was mostly accepted, a.k.a, manners. But of course he didn't take the hint and shrugged in perplexity..

"I think what he means, Terra, is that it is his business what disgusting bubble of oil lies on his face and has the right to hide it without you making some comment." The girl budged in with an as-matter-of-fact tone, obviously chastising him for his rudeness without realizing that I wasn't trying to hide a pimple. Were they both that retarded? I mean, they were older than me and even more experienced, but still I considered them to be as dull as a bare white wall.

We raced up the thick alley of Market Street like the wind, no people there to turn the road into an obstacle course due to the late hour. I glanced up at the sky above and admired the pleasant waves of silver silk that wound around the many points of light. This whole scene brought me from the depths of fear into the cradles of wonder and peace; this gave me the inkling to think about the great parts of my kidnapping. At least I wasn't being taken away by that creepy guy with the yellow eyes. And, maybe with this bout of events I could actually gain a nice amount of excitement in my life. I mean, wasn't this really what I wanted? A sense of adventure seemed to cloud my senses and strangle me with joy.

Terra uncomfortably shifted his eyesight down to me after realizing the sudden change in the bubble of atmosphere around me.

"Now that I think of it, I'm actually glad you guys are kidnapping me." I announced to the two and watched with glee as they both skidded to a stop, lurching when they finally began to slow.

"What did you just say?" Both of them mimed the other with surprise.

"I'm just mentioning, I'm kind of excited that you both are stealing me."

All I got in return for a reply was four blue eyes that revealed curiosity, confusion, and stupor. While the female crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow, Terra glued his attention to the sky as he tried to hide his surprise. The girl saw that Terra wasn't going to reply and did it for him, "And why would that be?"

"Because my life is stupid and boring."

All of them shrugged their shoulders in agreement that I was a seriously weird kid.

"Well, come on. Don't tell me that you've never thought that your existence was flat."

I was ignored and held tighter and closer to the brunette teen as they both began, again, to run off to their unknown destination. Another few minutes and streets flew by as we traveled in dead silence. This gave me the time to glance back up at the starry night sky and admire each constellation that I recognized: Cygnus the Swan, Aquila the Eagle, Lyra the Lyre, The Big Dipper and the little one, Draco the Dragon, Hercules, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and so on. They all belonged to the category of the Summer constellations, which I personally thought were better than the Winter ones. But that's just me. How do I know so much about Astronomy? Well, I've been fascinated with the stars ever since the first night after I had woken up to see Dirk's face. He told me about a few of them after I had asked whether or not he had been interested in the subject. That was the time when I really thought of Dirk as my best friend, even though I had only met him ten hours before. Anyways, I got to where I had started to take nightly scans of the sky almost every day. For some reason they gave me the feeling of nostalgia, and always made me think of my beginning without receiving negative emotions in return. Maybe it was because I knew that when you looked up at the night sky, you were technically seeing pictures of the past; vast images of millions of years beforehand. It was like looking at a more colorful and interesting textbook than the ones you'd find on a school desk. More fascinating than text and pictures of old newspaper clippings and war planes and tanks. More intriguing than the lonely little world that I lived in. Technically, they interested me because I knew that they were much more different than anything that existed within my life. Throughout my freshman year, which was what I had just finished, I had taken three astronomy classes to fill up my extra hour in each trimester. Well, it was either that or sewing. My school, sadly, didn't hold many choices for the extra class that they insisted that every student have. So astronomy it was. That was the only thing I could remember from my past: the fact that I was interested in the stars and night sky before I had lost all of my memories.

Right now I could make out the diamond shape of Aquila's wingspan and the cross-like structure of Cygnus, the bright star of Lyra twinkling not too far away. Overhead of the Big Dipper was the little one, and in between them was the winding ribbon of Draco, his head pointing to the bottom of the "w", commonly more referred to as Cassiopeia. Next to her was the house shaped figure of her husband, Cepheus. Rising in the east was the giant square of Pegasus, Andromeda riding on the center of his back.

Sorry, I'm probably boring you to death with my knowledge of the night sky. But what else was I supposed to do when I was being kidnapped? Pay attention to my captors? Nah, then I'd probably start worrying again whether or not their unknown master really was some creepy clown ringmaster. It wouldn't have surprised me, anyway.

"We're here." Terra poked at my cheek, causing me to notice that we had completely stopped and were standing in front of the haunted mansion that lay on the edge of town, smack dab in the middle of the forest.

"Do you live here?" I questioned.

"No, we are just going to rest here until morning. Then we teleport out of here and to Castle Celest to pass you over to Master Lumina."

"Who's-" I was going to ask who Master Lumina was, but the girl rudely interrupted with impatience shining through her quiet exterior.

"You'll know when we get to Celest."

I sighed as Terra and his companion made their way to the tall iron gate that kept everything from entering and escaping the front gardens of the massive house.

"How are we going to get in?" I asked another question and was answered by the flickering light that started to appear within turquoise head's palm. From this azure ball of light came a ribbon of glowing blue that entwined around her right hand and wove over her arm a few times. Suddenly, her hand began to illuminate with cobalt and a large object appeared.

The first thing I noticed about it was the cold hues of the colors: gray, white, and mostly, or course, blue. At the top, or tip of the blade, was a crown shaped outline of sapphire, the bottom edge changing into an icy white. In the middle of this shape were three more white shapes; one half of a diamond shape sticking out from the middle point of the crown and two bottom-and-side pieces of a square in each corner. Connecting this to the hilt was a long blade of indigo, more so blue than purple. Two more diamonds the same color of the blade blocked your path before the head of the hilt. The handle was pure black with an amethyst, onyx, and white guard to protect it. At the top of this hand guard it was black, then at the middle it turned violet, then at the very bottom it was white. This weapon reminded me of winter and the idea of snow, inevitably bringing me back to the thought of my forbidden past and the very light inkling of the first thing I felt when I woke up to see the disturbed face of Dirk. A beam of light radiated from the tip as she pointed it at the huge keyhole that was darkly etched into the lock. Crink...the door squeaked open as the gears inside of the metal door shackle turned. As she put her first foot forward to enter the yard I realized that the weird object she was carrying resembled a key. That would make sense, since she had just unlocked the gate into the mansion's perimeters with it.

"Nice baton." I murmured to her as she walked into the front yard, referring to the ongoing joke I kept bringing up about how they were part of a circus.

"It's not a baton, kiddo. It's called a Keyblade." Terra announced, leaving me stunned. How would he have known about the dream I had before they took me? And why did he keep calling me kiddo? Terra noticed my confusion and briefly explained as we strutted after the girl, "A weapon only granted to those who have a strong enough heart. I have one, also."

Another squeak erupted from the ornate doors that the teen who held me as he opened them with his free hand. The girl followed and the sky was left behind as we stepped into the dreary, dark, old manor. Through the windows, I could see moonlight streaming through like spotlights onto the floor. A large and golden chandelier was suspended from the ceiling over a long oak dining table, a few chairs scattered around its frame. They each were the same color of the dinner table except for the crimson velvet that coated the seats.

"Welcome to our rest stop for the night. Aqua will stay in the white room above us while we both will sleep down here." Terra broadcasted into our ears the plans of our stay while also finally giving away the name of the girl. Aqua...it suited her very well.

"See you guys. I'll be upstairs." Aqua somewhat skipped over to the stairs in excitement; what a change of attitude. Her footsteps were heard as she walked on the hall overhanging the right side of the dining room. The door she walked into unseen slammed behind her, leaving a positively blistering comeback to sear across the room she had left.

Terra set me down and watched as I got back up, my feet giving out for a second due to my inability to walk for so long. I stumbled and picked myself back up while watching Terra settle down in one of the aforementioned chairs.

I stood there in silence as he took in my image, his gaze drifting over my face, my size, and then into my eyes. My feet instinctively shuffled back and forth as he bore into my own sight with interest. I was extremely uncomfortable, with him staring vacantly at me and all. The curves of his face rippled when a grin cracked his expression into a more inviting manner. My eyes darted to another spot in the room when he started to snort in laughter. He didn't actually snort, though, but from the look on his face it seemed that at any moment he was ready to.

"You're actually glad that we're abducting you?" He requested an answer to my recent announcement of happiness.

"I guess...I mean, it's much more fun being taken away by a bunch of eccentric freaks than staying at home with my backstabbing friends and stupid school."

"You really hate your life, don't you?" He asked suddenly and out of his normal tone. This time it seemed that he was concerned. But how could he be? He didn't even know me all that well. Maybe he was just one of those caring guys who were concerned for other's happiness. He did save me from Drennin, after all.

"No, I don't hate it. But it's no cup of warm tea either. By the way, thanks for saving me back when that guy and his friends ganged up on me." I tried to get him off of the subject, but he ignored my appreciation and crossed his arms onto the back of the chair and rested his head on them. His eyes haltingly closed as he asked another question, "Apparently you've had quite the tough existence. Our master told us about it and mentioned something about having a hard past."

Hard past? The blood inside my veins boiled with high temperature. How would some old and crazy ringmaster know about my life? It made me angry just thinking about it and sitting there looking dumb to Terra. At least I knew for a fact that he wouldn't press for more informa-

"So what about your past would make you so mad? I was told that whenever anyone asks you about it you freak out and get really angsty about everything."

My hands instantly balled into fists as I replied, "Which is exactly why you shouldn't mention it when you know what my reaction will be." He recoiled with a little blink that offered the inkling of fright. But it went away almost instantaneously.

"Sorry to bug you about it. I was just a little curious, that's all."

"Don't worry about it," I paused to lick my lips like a dog, "Everyone else does, so I'm pretty used to it."

After this comment he rustled his left hand into his pocket and fidgeted around, obviously fishing around for something.

"Hmmm...."Terra raised his head off of his woven arms and turned to face me, focusing on the small trinket that he had just looted from his pocket like a magician. The item glinted in bronze, giving off a golden brown cast due to the moonlight showering down upon it like droplets of a thundering storm. He held it up as if his hand was a pedestal, mounting it between his right forefinger and bent thumb. Examining it carefully, he felt each indentation tenderly with his other free fingertips. The medal brightened a path to his spiritual heart as he turned it downwards.

"What-" He interrupted before I could even ask.

"It's my apprentice medal from when I was still at a bronze level. You know, a newbie?"

"Oh." I became interested in this..."level" system that Terra had brought up. Maybe I could press him for more information, I thought.

"So, what are you at now?" The carpeted floor below revealed the aching of aged wood as I paced over next to him.

Squeaking sounded from the chair, giving me warning of his next response, which was a slight turn caused by the swiveling of his feet. Then, he got up and stared downwards at me,giving me a faint reminder of our slight height difference; I had to careen my head backwards to figure out his expression. A faint smile caressed the outlines of his face as he tapped at the silver symbol that was attached to the top gray part of his pants, the silky black ribbons encasing its edges like ivy.. It was identical to the copper emblem he held except for the obvious color change.

"Silver, after beginner but before gold."

"Wow, how long did it take you to get there?"

"Not very long..." His smile had turned into a spirited beam, telling me that he was apparently flattered by my showers of questions and attention that related to his status, so to speak.

For a while there he just stood and began to bore into my own eyes, focusing every now and then. At that moment, I could feel a weird, pulsing vibration in my chest, as if something was coming in and reaching for my soul. His blue sight encrusted palm seemed to wrap its fingers around my heart and hold it there. Terra then closed his eyes, but I was still entranced. Then, he opened them up again.

"You do have a really strong heart...

Had he just delved into my spirit? I know, I know. That was a seriously strange question to ask anyone. But really? And, for some reason, it was calming.

Don't bombard me with insults of my cheesiness for what I just said.

"What about the girl?" I asked to avert his attention away from his previous "endeavor".

"Aqua? She-" I didn't hear the rest of his explanation because I was too fixated on how her name matched her appearance. Blue hair, blue eyes, sleek figure, curvy edges...

"Yeah, she became an apprentice to Master Lumina around the same time I did. Well, a little later, I guess." He slipped his hands easily back into his pockets, expectantly staring staring at me for a reply.

So, I gave him one:

"Is your 'master'," I paused my sentence to create speaker tags with my fingers. "Is he really strict?"

Terra raised one of his eyes to the ceiling along with an eyebrow, thinking quite carefully. As he continued his quest to find an answer that wouldn't force crap to run into my pants as I ran out of the front doors of the mansion, I admired once again my surroundings intently with my eyes increasing their cobalt intensity each and every second I spent making out the pair of trademark amber circles that squinted, telling me that he was positioned somewhere in the "side" garden outside. My stalker had returned, making me certain that this time he was going to try something.

"He's not...He's not, so to speak, mean. But he sure doesn't take any crap from anyone." I assumed that this last comment was backed up by his own experience. Was Terra really a troublemaker? Actually, he seemed more like one of those quiet guys who sits in the corners and daydreams life away. Or was that me? Maybe even both of us?

Terra reassured me when he saw the rising fear in my face, and probably guessed it wasn't because of anything else but his master's description.

"You'll know what I mean when you get to meet him."

"I'm meeting him?"

"Don't worry, he'll like you. I'm sure of it."

How could he know that his 'master' will like me when we haven't even seen the whites of each other's eyes?

He interrupted my thoughts again (something that I noticed Terra had a tendency to do)m trying to get off of the subject, "Anyways, you'd better get some shut-eye; we have a long day ahead of us."

The Quasimodo-postured man blinked again like an owl and stepped out into the natural spotlight. Noticing my diverted attention, Terra clenched his teeth and glanced over at him, taking a double take as if he knew the creeper. Layers of confidence peeled away from his face as if he was an orange in the hands of a kid, revealing a more concerned and confused facade. More of my stalker appeared and soon his whole body was attached to the rest.

Actually, he really was a crusty old coot with horrible back problems; the light bounced off of his bare skull and his silver goatee. Sadly, the chin hair was the only hair that existed on his whole entire body.

At this time his eyes were even brighter than before and gave me an inkling of mockery no different from that afternoon, as if he thought that Terra and I were completely hilarious. Even from my twenty foot distance I could make out a disturbing, maniacal glower etched into his face where his mouth should have been.

His apparel consisted of a long, obsidian coat with silver shoulder guards. Many matching straps and belts crisscrossed over his upper torso. Buttons ran down the whole front and kept each side together, except at the top, which gave away the pure snow undershirt that lay underneath, having even more black buttons strewn about. But this time it was closed all the way and concealed his chest skin, thankfully. The neck cuffs sprawled out over the top of his overcoat. Black tights led down into his tall and similar colored boots, which only had white at the very top where it was outlined. Obscuring his hands were only conventional gloves that resembled his undershirt. Everything else that existed as his garments were the four onyx belts that were separated about on his outfit: two wrapped around his wrists like snakes and the others were tightened around his lower waist. Like Terra, he reminded of a crack mix of things: a mad scientist, a lunatic, and...well. He didn't really remind me of the third one, but only because he actually was a stalker.

"Master-"

Terra's suddenly scared greeting was interrupted by the old figure, who had suddenly disappeared and was breathing into both of our necks, right behind us.

"Young man, I see you and Aqua have finally managed to capture your target." Judging from the tone in his voice, he actually sounded like he had endured a few hard times. It cracked every single time he pronounced a short "e", like when he said the word, "capture". It kinda sounded rhythmic in a way, but at the same time creepy.

I started to get confused when Terra brushed his pants off and cleaned himself, trying to look good in front of this man. After fixing his hair back into place he bowed as low as he could and muttered an apology.

"I am sorry to be in your great presence with such a ruffian appearance, Master Xehanort. But I did not know of your arrival and had no time to prepare."

What? Did I just hear Terra tell this weirdo coot that his presence was great? If I didn't know any better due to Terra's deep and apologetic tone, I would've guessed that he was just kidding around. But he looked so dead serious. He couldn't have been fooling me this time.

"Do not worry about such things. All I came for was to make sure for your master that you were fine."

He, still bowing, mumbled another professional statement of either washed down surprise or sincere appreciation, "Thank you very much, Master." Terra raised his torso just so that he could lower once again.

"Anyways, is this kid the one you were meant to find?" Master Xehanort turned his suspended head towards me and inspected every ounce of my existence. Once his eyes met mine again, but I flicked my own away in embarrassment. I guess that was my way of mentioning that I had a little bit of respect for him, but only because Terra had done so and I felt awkward not to follow. Don't call this an excuse, but he also gave me a really scary feeling when I focused on the core of his soul through those amber tinted windows. It was like looking outside through a peephole to find that the police were there to arrest you for something you had not done, but you knew that they had reasonable evidence to do so.

"Yes." My former guardian and current kidnapper nodded vigilantly.

"Very well, then, " Xehanort turned around with a squeak of his boots and headed for the front door. As he strolled away with his arms crossed behind his back, he cackled a farewell, "Not really a person worthy to be kidnapped. But good luck trying to tell that to Master Lumina, that stubborn man."

"Another point goes to the hate on Toshi team."

"He doesn't just dislike you only, he insults everyone because he doesn't think his shit stinks."

So apparently Terra had begun to distance himself from Xehanort as well. Past experience, probably.

"Has he been like that in the past?"

Terra rolled his eyes as if I was stupid enough not to get it...

"Well, I was just wondering about it, that's all."

"Anyhow, we'd better get some rest for tomorrow, so you can..." He darted his eyesight to a nice, cold spot in the corner and pointed, nodding to back up his command.

"You can sleep over there and I'll sleep in the other corner. We get up whenever Aqua does, so expect that to be pretty early."

Humor clutched the back of my throat with a pretty tight grip, "When she demands it, you mean?"

"She may seem bossy and stuffy, but Aqua actually is a really caring friend." Terra defended, his tone suddenly becoming a little irritated. I backed up a little ways from him and shuffled my feet to carry me over to the corner, followed by my mouth instinctively muttering an apology.

"It's okay. Just remember not to say anything like that in front of her. Trust me, she won't be as hot as you thought she was when it gets to that."

Noted: don't make Aqua mad or she'll kill you. I sarcastically mentioned to myself as I settled into the corner and laid down, ignoring the serious look in Terra's eyes.

"G'night."

"Night."

And with that I fell asleep almost right away; the only thing keeping me somewhat awake being the familiar duo of golden orange orbs peeking over at me from the balcony above. Master Xehanort really hadn't left. Which means, he heard every little diss we threw at him. Even though we had saw him exit through the front door. But, it didn't surprise me all that much. Probably because I was sure that all the weirdos I had met that day were capable of almost anything. Even sneaking back in an old mansion to eavesdrop on a bunch of teenage boys to make sure that they wouldn't dare to insult him.

Great. Now Mr. Clean is after us just because he decided to stay here and listen in. I thought to myself with half an ounce of care due to the fingers of sleep gently pulling my eyelids down with its fingertips.

Oh well.