~*.*Disciples of the Keyblade*.*~
Title: Patience
Rating: K+ for safety.
Warnings: Exasperated teens on the verge of hurting someone, a half formed swear word.
Characters: Master Eraqus, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Tigger, Piglet, Winnie the Pooh
Summary: The threesome encounter a mysterious storybook meant for Merlin in Master Eraqus's study. Pre-BBS.
Special Notes: This idea was just so awesome that I had to break my POV Cycle and switch to Terra's instead. The prompt is from BlueandRedButterflies, so all credit goes to her! I mean it. All of it. I just took the prompt and wrote it. I hope it's decent! As for everyone else I have not forgotten your prompts either! More on this at the bottom. Also, this is set roughly two years before the other oneshots so far, hence why Ven seems a little more juvenile.
~***~
The entire day had been spent learning the finer touches of magic, and in all honesty, the three apprentices were exhausted. No one more so than Terra, who had to endure a brutal sparring session with Master Eraqus as his mentor tested his skills with the Keyblade.
Oddly enough, Ventus and Aqua didn't have to undergo the special exam. Maybe it had something to do with being the eldest disciple.
Or maybe he just hates me, Terra thought sourly as his muscles throbbed painfully. They were inside the castle over the Land of Departure, having had just finished their evening meal, the trio were resting and chatting idly until they decided to hit the hay.
"Say Terra, what do you think Master Eraqus does in his room all the time?" Ven asked. He tapped one finger against his chin. "I mean, he's in there constantly when he's not with us."
"I dunno. Important stuff." Terra offered lamely, not considering it very high on his "Items of Importance" list. He was tired and irritated, but his stubborn pride wouldn't let him rest until the others were.
Aqua shrugged and bounced a ball of light between her hands. "Terra's right, it's probably something essential. Maybe he writes Keyblade Masters in other places discussing training regimes, or perhaps he even pens a letter to the King himself!"
Ventus sat up from the dark burgundy couch with a gasp. "He writes the King?"
The female protégé pursed her lips. "Well possibly, I never said—"
"But even if it's just other Masters, how often do we hear from other Keyblade apprentices? I wonder how much there are?" The boy's voice continued to rise with his excitement. "Do you think we'd ever get to meet another pupil, like us? Or are Keybearers one in a billion?"
Terra smirked as he noticed Aqua's expression. She was clearly regretting bringing it up. "Maybe Ven, but—"
"Let's go see his study!" Ventus was already up and out the room before Aqua had even risen to her feet from the armchair she had been reclining in.
"Way to go." Terra observed dryly, earning a glare from Aqua. She sighed in defeat.
"We better go with him before he messes something up."
Terra followed the azure eyed trainee as she set off down the winding corridors looking for Ven. They bounded up stairs and weaved through various passages that would have made anyone else dizzy and lost, but it was home to the apprentices, and they hadn't gotten lost yet.
The very top spire of the castle proved to be Ven's designation, and the pair came to a stop as they saw a door open just a crack, with a shadow moving within.
"Ven? Is that you?" Terra hissed. "Get out of the Master's room!"
The door opened and the blonde haired boy gave a cheery grin. "C'mon, this way, you won't believe what I found!" He was off again before Aqua or Terra could do a thing about it, and hesitantly the older pair of disciples crept into the study.
It had a regal, refined, well kept feel to it. Everything was tidy and neat, with shades of gold, dark red, and burnished bronze. Two desks, a window, a bed…
And a slim door directly to the right, which housed a room full of bookshelves and yet another table.
Terra nudged the door open and poked his head in. Ven was bent over the desk, examining something with a curious gaze.
"Ven!" Aqua hissed, storming into the room. She glanced around nervously. "We're not supposed to be in here! Let's go!" She grabbed his arm—gently—but the boy only shrugged her off.
"But look! I've never seen anything like it." Ven held up a midsized tome.
"Wow. I've never seen a book before." Terra's tone positively dripped sarcasm. "We'll be out running circuits from dawn to dusk if we're caught in here! Aqua's right, let's—"
"Scared?" Ven's eyes twinkled mischievously, stopping the eldest apprentice mid-sentence. "It's been lying on this wrapping paper. It looks like the Master is about to send it to someone in Radiant Garden, a 'Merlin'."
Aqua seemed interested despite herself. She looked at the leather bound volume with a new light in her gaze. "Merlin? He's one of the best magicians in the universe, after Master Yen Sid."
"Right," agreed Ventus as if he had always known who Merlin was. "And if Master Eraqus is sending it to him, this book must be magical!" He tapped the cover, which had a blank white square apparently meant to hold a picture, but there was nothing there.
"I don't care," Aqua said at last, though it was obvious that she was lying. "We can't just examine anything we want in this study, especially if it's addressed to Merlin! What if…"
Ventus shrugged with a sigh. "Okay, okay, if you really think so." He looked disappointed as he placed it back on the wrapping paper, and Terra mentally counted off the seconds in his head.
Three…two…one…
Right on cue, Aqua picked the book up again. "Just one peek wouldn't hurt," she mumbled.
She's always had a soft spot for Ven, Terra thought testily. Well, he did too, but that was beside the point. Despite himself, he scooted closer and peered over her shoulder, as did Ventus, and the middle neophyte opened the book.
Nothing happened. The inside was simply a child's storybook, beautifully made, but normal as far as books went.
"That's a rip off," Ven muttered, crestfallen.
Before Terra could agree, a blinding white light dragged all three of the teens into the pages, and they didn't even have time to scream.
In the study, the volume dropped brusquely to the ground with nary a ripple of magic.
~***~
Terra opened his eyes, sitting up with a massive yawn. The first thing he noticed was that the sun was out—and the moon had been rising when they had unexpectedly left.
He scrambled to his feet and stared around frantically. There didn't appear to be any danger. Just a lush green field all around him, with a log right to his side, covered in pale, fleshy mushrooms. Tulips and sunflowers bent their heads in response to the wind, and the sky, along with the clouds, seemed to be just above his fingertips. A pleasant breeze blew, keeping it just the right temperature between hot and lukewarm. Terra rubbed at his dark brown hair in bewilderment.
Wait…where were Aqua and Ven?!
The eldest apprentice spun around on the spot, eyes searching every which way. "Aqua? Ven?" He called out. A butterfly lifted off of the fallen tree in response, fluttering away like a princess's lost golden trinket.
Maybe they popped up somewhere else in this…book…than I did.
Terra took another quick look around, and then he turned his back on the log and headed toward a blurry mass on the skyline—a forest?
Before he could take even twenty steps, an orange shape hurtled seemingly out of nowhere and catapulted into him, sending the young tyro flying until he landed flat on his back in quite an undignified heap.
Terra summoned his Keyblade, but some uncanny sense told him not to attack.
Pinning him down with a smile that was entirely harmless, sincere, and amused at the same time was what appeared to be a stuffed animal tiger. Its tail was longer than a normal tiger's, granted, and there were no claws or vicious fangs. But it was a tiger all the same. The orange feline waved its tail and chortled, "Hoohoohoohooo!"
"What?" Terra said blankly, unable to form a proper sentence in response to the cheerful laughter.
The striped cat made a face of mock annoyance. "My fault I guess, thought you were Pooh bear! Where has the old beary boy got to? Gotta look before I leap!"
"I don't know, but if you get off of me, I'll help you find him." He had no such intention, but it wasn't that big of a deal, surely?
The tiger's ears pricked upwards and then he sprang away, still laughing, while Terra got to his feet, smoothing his outfit out. "Who are you?" He asked, or more like demanded, if the Keyblade in his hand was anything to go by.
The tiger bounced fearlessly up to him and used one finger to push the weapon aside as if it was nothing. "Don't go waving things like that around buddy boy, you'll hurt yourself! Now then, I'm Tigger!"
"Tigger?" Terra said skeptically, dismissing his weapon while raising a cynical eyebrow.
"You ain't never seen a Tigger before?" The tiger looked horrified, and then he used his long tail to bounce on like a spring, gripping the edges of his toes with his paws. "Tiggers are the best bouncers in the whole forest y'know! Bouncin' is what Tiggers do best!"
"Okay great," Terra was fighting to keep his patience. "But have you seen my friends, Ven and Aqua?" He pronounced the words clearly, as if talking to a slow child.
Tigger hopped right up to him and poked a finger in the protégé's face. "Have you seen buddy bear? Pooh the Winnie? Winnie the Pooh?"
"Who the he—"Taking a deep breath he asked, "Who is 'Winnie'?"
"He's a Pooh."
Terra gritted his teeth. "What's a Pooh?"
"Winnie's a Pooh! Silly boy, you've got bees in your brain!" Tigger clicked his tongue in deep pity.
Terra clamped a hand to his face and exhaled sharply. "All right. Thanks anyway. What's that forest over there called?" He gestured to the wood on the horizon.
"The Hundred Acre Wood! Say…You didn't know that. You aren't from around here, are ya?"
"No." Terra said flatly, already walking off. To his horror, the "Tigger" accompanied him, bouncing right along with a ridiculous smile.
"Well that's all right buddy boy! I'll show you around!"
"Fine. But first, did you see anyone like me? Armored, humans…?"
Tigger stroked his chin thoughtfully, still hopping. "Now that ya mention it, I think I saw two of ya walk into these very woods. Chances are, they encountered Piglet on the way." The tiger snapped his fingers. "Maybe Piglet knows where Pooh bear is! He's due for his daily bouncin'!"
Terra thought, Dear God. Talking tigers, mysterious books, and now piglets? Well…at least they seem harmless enough. If this had been a war torn world, then I'd have a problem.
The Hundred Acre Wood was rather beautiful, with tall oaks and sycamores, buzzing bees, plants of all kinds and bubbling creeks. Terra felt his temper smooth out enough so that he could address Tigger in a friendlier tone. Maybe that was all it took to understand the animated stuffed animal.
"Tigger, do humans often come here?" Terra tried to keep his voice as pleasant as possible.
Tigger frowned, shaking his head, always jumping. "Oh no. We used to get one visitor here, all the time! His name was Christopher Robin. We had so much fun!" He chortled again but then his ears drooped. "One day, ol' Chris said that he'd never forget us. Never ever. But he was growin' up, and one day I guess he couldn't come back. 'Cause he wouldn't just leave us forever unless he had to, right?"
Hearing the desperate hope in the tiger's voice, Terra didn't have the heart to turn him down. "Of course. We got in by a book, maybe Christopher lost it? Or the magic wore off?"
"Book?" Tigger wrinkled his snout but didn't say anything else, apparently deep in thought.
A dearly familiar sound reached Terra's ears past the buzzing, and his heart soared. He raced off, trampling the undergrowth, and with a startled yelp Tigger put on a burst of speed to follow him. The trees cleared out to a beautiful clearing speckled with wild white daisies, and sitting there calmly braiding together some of the flowers to form a chain was Aqua.
She was still laughing, and her eyes lifted up to meet his, the golden sunlight speckling her hair so that it seemed some of the strands had turned into gold. "There you are, Terra."
"Where did you go? Where's Ven?" He approached her, careful not to stomp on the flowers, with Tigger weaving through the foliage close behind.
"I woke up here," Aqua said with a shrug. "And I met Piglet, who thinks he has an idea as to where Ven may be."
"Piglet? Where?" Terra rubbed the back of his head, bemused.
"I-I-I-I'm right here!" A voice squeaked near his shoe.
The eldest apprentice recoiled, relaxing when he saw a tiny pink pig with big, diamond shaped ears peeking up at him. "S-S-Sorry to scare you." The little animal apologized.
"I wasn't scared," Terra sniffed, annoyed.
"Yes you were." Aqua chided him gently, her eyes still sparkling with amusement. She placed the circlet of flowers around Piglet's head, but they drooped down, forming a necklace instead. "Piglet, can you please take us to where Ven might be?" She asked politely, accompanying her words with a smile.
"S-Sure. This way!" Piglet scurried off and Terra had to keep a close eye on the tiny animal as he scampered through the forest. Tigger took off again with a wild laugh and Aqua calmly broke into a jog.
"Where are we?" Terra hissed to her as the duo followed the pig.
"I think I've read about this before, but I could be wrong. The Hundred Acre Wood is a magical storybook…but if anything happens to its pages, though they can repair themselves, the memories have a chance of being lost."
"But how do we get out?" Terra thought the info was mostly irrelevant.
Aqua shrugged. "We'll have to think about it, but for now we need to find Ven."
Terra grunted in agreement.
Their uncontrolled romp through the forest came to an end as they came out onto a brown dirt path that led to a huge oak tree. Sitting on a clean, branchless log that acted as a bench, surrounded by fallen acorns, was a pudgy, small golden stuffed bear wearing a red shirt.
"P-Pooh! Oh Pooh bear!" Piglet skittered forward and earned the attention of the plushie.
"Oh, Piglet. I'm glad you're here." Pooh said with a kind smile. "My new friend has offered to get me some honey."
"New friend?" Terra lifted his head and spotted a mess of blonde hair in the higher branches. "Hey, Ven!"
Ven jerked at the unexpected shout of his name, hitting his head on a tree branch. A load of acorns clattered onto his shoulders and back, causing him to slip. At the last moment he snagged a beehive and fell to the earth with it, landing safely in a huge pile of leaves, freshly raked.
"Oh bother. Are you okay, Ven?" Pooh trundled over and inspected the scattered heap.
"Y-yeah. Here you go." The youngest disciple handed the bear the beehive, which caused Pooh to beam happily. Struggling to his feet, he waved casually. "Hey, guys!"
"Are you insane?" Aqua sounded more surprised than angry. She craned her neck to inspect the huge tree. "That's quite a climb."
"Quite a fall, too." Ven remarked nonchalantly.
As they chatted, Terra looked at the curiously made house. It was built into the lowest section of the tree, with a string to pull a bell, and a strange, badly written sign that read "Mr. Sanchez".
You've got to be kidding me.
A huge force crashed into Terra's back and the teen collapsed once more, but this time on his face. He struggled to sit upright, gasping, hearing Tigger's raucous laughter in his ears.
"I got ya again! Hoohoohoohooo!" The weight vanished and Terra's patience snapped.
He whipped around, his Keyblade in one hand. "Get back here you little ba—"
Quick as lightning, or maybe swift as the wind, Ventus seemingly glided across the ground and deftly knocked Terra's weapon away. "You can't hit them! They're like children." He scolded.
Crumpling under the combined might of Ven's glare and Aqua's withering glower, Terra mumbled, "I wasn't going to hurt him for real."
"Right." Aqua left it at that and addressed Piglet again, bending down to his level. "How do we get out of here, Piglet?"
"Y-You keep taking the path, you see." The tiny pig began. "And sooner or later, it e-ends, and no one knows what's beyond there!" He sounded terrified, but Terra guessed that if his world had an unexplained void, he'd be a bit frightened too.
"That must be it," Terra noted with satisfaction. "Let's go."
"Aw, I was having fun." Ven pouted.
Aqua exchanged a brief, seemingly secret glance with the youngest Keybearer before she said, "We have to go, anyway. The Master will wonder where we are."
"You'll come back, right, Ven?" Pooh asked as he stuck one honey slathered paw in his mouth.
"I'll try," he promised.
"Good. Whatever. Let's go." Terra fixed Tigger with a fierce look that he couldn't hold under the happy grin of the tiger. "I'll get you, just wait and see."
"Sure thing, buddy boy!" was the cheery response.
"Y-Yeah, come back to see Owl and Rabbit sometime!" Piglet added. "And Kanga and Roo, too!"
They all waved good bye, and Terra set off at the head of their group, his stride purposeful. Noticing Aqua's disapproving look, he objected quickly. "I wasn't going to hurt them!"
She just nodded and looked straight ahead.
"It's actually a nice place," noted Ven with a wistful smile.
Terra grunted. Even he wouldn't argue that.
The road took them out of the forest and into a strange white barrier that seemed to fight against them. When they breached it, a brightly shimmering light engulfed the trio and they emerged out of the book in a loosely scattered formation of legs, arms, and armor.
"Well, well, well."
Terra blanched and sat up straight as Aqua and Ven did the same. Eraqus was looking down at them, frowning sternly. He bent to pick up the book before placing it back on the brown wrapping paper.
"This was my f—"Ventus began immediately, but Eraqus waved it aside.
"No matter. Nothing was harmed, and I'm sure the wood creatures enjoyed a visit. Merlin will do what he can to get this book back to Christopher Robin."
The threesome didn't know what to say, so they just nodded.
"Now, go rest. Don't expect to get extra hours after the stunt you pulled." Eraqus didn't sound angry in the slightest, and the relieved apprentices made their way out.
Eraqus lightly grabbed Terra on the shoulder as he passed, at the rear of the line. "Maybe I should send you in there more often to learn patience and the value of fun."
Terra's face heated as he realized that their Master had been watching the whole time.
As he departed, the oldest disciple couldn't help thinking that Eraqus had planned this from the start.
~***~
Okay, don't worry, if you didn't like this chapter. I'm making an effort to make each chapter different and unique, and maybe we'll throw in some world visiting. We'll see. There probably won't be more Winnie the Pooh chapters unless you guys just want some, which I doubt, though I liked writing this.
All right. Let's get to the main bit. Firstly, I've had people ask for both TerraxAqua and VenxAqua. I do not know if I can put both of them in here. Dani-Chan, whom this oneshot collection is for, favors TerraxAqua, so it has a strong chance of at least being hinted in here.
However…well, if enough voices ask for VenxAqua, I may change my mind. So all of my reviewers—and I love you all very much XD—please, please, please drop a review and let me know if you want TerraxAqua or VenxAqua, or no pairings at all.
Someone is bound to ask: "You're the author. What do you want?" Well I don't know. When the English version of Birth by Sleep comes out, I will judge character interaction and then pick one from there. They're both what-and-what to me. I will see if I can make both work but I don't know…I'll write an oneshot perhaps for the pairing not featured here.
Anyway, sorry for the late update. School, and the fact that my dad came back from Iraq this week. Safe and sound.
Okay, don't forget to drop a review! It's actually important this time, and I will do my best to incorporate everyone's ideas into this oneshot collection!