Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts or Silent Hill. They belong to Disney/Square Enix and Konami respectively

Chapter 2

"Hello?"

No answer came. The streets were deserted, the town's inhabitants presumably asleep. Like stars in the night, a few lights broke through the fog, though they still seemed dull. The storm had really picked up in the minutes it had taken them to get here, and the place was covered in snow. It was unevenly distributed, and in some cases even blocked doors to the buildings. That was odd.

As Aqua looked around, Terra walked forwards. Halfway down the block, he turned. From this distance, the combination of snow and fog rendered her invisible and he quickly ran back. Luckily, she'd had the sense to stay where she was.

"How are we supposed to find Ven in this?" he asked.

Aqua pointed. "Look."

His eyes fell on the blinking lights of a sign that read Gas. The building that the pole was attached to was dark, but a small stand had been erected nearby at the curve. It stood bravely against the onslaught of the wind, with no indication of its purpose save for an arrow pointing downwards. He and Aqua exchanged a glance before approaching it.

The stand had three walls and an open fourth side so that they could see what lay inside. It looked like a merchant's shop to him, where the man would stand behind the counter and display his wares. Terra picked out umbrellas, walking sticks, seeds, nothing of real importance. A cheap amulet swayed, clinking against the wall as if begging for them to notice. Terra checked, but there didn't seem to be anyone guarding the stand.

"We can't steal, Terra."

"We need a better map than the one you have."

Aqua made a noise of protest, but Terra brushed it off. His attention was fixed on the pile of maps underneath the arrow. He stretched an arm out and Aqua gave him a disapproving glare.

"We'll leave him some munny, okay?" Terra said.

"They don't use munny here."

"Well," he said pompously, "then they shouldn't have left those out here in the open."

With those last words, he plucked a map from its resting place and spread it out for him to check. He blinked; there was a small note attached to the center. Lost? it asked. He shivered, feeling like eyes were upon him. He scanned their surroundings, but the fog made it impossible to tell what was where. Quickly, before Aqua found it, he grabbed the note and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Now," he said, "if I were Ven, where would I be?"

Nowhere stood out. The place that suited Ven's character the most was the school where all the children would be, but Terra felt that even Ven wasn't silly enough to run away there. There was a lake to the north, so at least the town wasn't that big. He squinted, picking up the map and turning it this way and that, but no obvious place to search first came to mind.

"Maybe he's at the hospital," Aqua suggested. "If Master Xehanort is injured it could explain why Ven didn't come back for us."

"Based on how Master Eraqus talks about him, I would expect Xehanort to be found here." Terra firmly planted his finger on the jail.

She raised her hand, as if thinking of swatting him. "You should hope that neither of them hears that you said that."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "They won't if you don't tell."

Aqua giggled. They held each other's gaze for a moment, and then she jerked back as if waking from a dream. "We should go."

"Okay." He folded the map up and put it away.

They had been walking only for ten seconds when Aqua suddenly ran back. She grabbed a map from the stand, slipping it into her pocket with a guilty look on her face.

"Aqua, welcome to the dark side."

This time, she did hit him.

It was difficult to navigate in this weather. They stuck close to the buildings, so that they could easily tell when one road branched off. But despite the storm, the scenery fascinated Terra. The homes here were huge; the paths were covered with something smoother and harder than cobblestone; those lights he had seen earlier had a source. When he asked, Aqua said they were streetlights, but she too was at a loss when it came to how they worked. Each of them had heard stories from Master Eraqus about this kind of place, but they still weren't prepared for what they saw.

"What do you think gas is?" he asked.

"I don't know," Aqua answered. "But Master told me once never to cast a Fire spell on it."

He didn't think about why, just took her word as the truth. He was too busy marvelling over the houses to dwell on it anyways. Imagine everyone being able to live in a palace like them! True, the Land of Departure boasted a huge castle that overshadowed these, but Terra still had memories of a much smaller home, from a time before the keyblade where he was always hungry and ran barefoot with his friends.

The wind carried voices to them. "Did you hear that?" Aqua wandered forwards, slowly spinning as she searched for the voices' owners. "Maybe they've seen Ven!"

"We're not going to have much luck finding them in this."

He meant to gesture to the snow, but he backhanded a fence by accident. No, not exactly a fence, but a gate. It creaked open, a swirl of glittering snow entering through the crack. Past the gate lay a courtyard, a massive building towering over it. There was a shed in the yard, and when Terra pushed open the gate and went up to it, he found its doors unlocked. The inside was strangely empty, except for a desk, a notepad and pen, and a chair on which to sit.

The voices came again. Aqua perked up like a dog faced with a bone. "We could go look for them," she said, "and meet back here."

"We won't get lost?"

"Just mark this place down on your map, Terra," Aqua grabbed the pen and did exactly that, "and don't go too far."

It was as good a plan as any. Aqua exited the shack and went left, Terra watching uneasily as she faded out of view. He picked up the pen, set to mark the map, when he realized that he had no idea where they were. Oops.

If I circle around the building, there must be a sign somewhere. Terra tried to move away from the desk, but his foot caught on the leg of the chair and they both fell. It landed across his chest, and he pushed it away with one hand.

With this wonderful new line of sight, Terra found that the floor was, indeed, very dirty. He brushed off his shirt, then his hair, and even considered brushing off his pants. While he pondered that, his gaze drifted underneath the desk where a long cylinder lay between two clumps of dust. He reached over and took it. It was a long, smooth thing with a switch at one end. Terra clicked it, and a beam of light shot out from the other end. Stunned, he stared blankly. He clicked again, and the light went out. Another click and it was back.

He seen one of these before . . . oh, that was right, this had once been one of Ven's favourite toys back at the castle. He didn't think this one belonged to Ven; his younger friend had lost his a long time ago. What was that he called it? A flashlight? Yes, that sounded right.

Terra, the new owner of one genuine flashlight, stepped out of the shack. The flashlight illuminated the fog just a little, and he proudly waved it about, gloating at his victory over nature. What was that he was supposed to be doing again? Oh, yes, he needed to figure out where he was.

For a few steps, Terra's large footprints were right next to Aqua's. He hesitated at the gate, snow gathering on his shoulders as he strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of her. But it appeared Aqua hadn't had any second thoughts, and he shuffled back towards the building. He did find its name, presumably at what was the front of the place, right next to an entrance. Apparently, this building was an apartment, something Terra did know about. It wouldn't seem likely that anyone inside had seen Ven, but he had an uncanny ability to make all sorts of friends. Terra tried a door, but it was locked. Knocking didn't make much difference, and he didn't think it would be appreciated if he just unlocked the door with his keyblade.

The wind died down. A crow called in the distance. There was nothing else he could hear, but he made his way out of the courtyard and through the gate anyways. A light cover of snow had filled Aqua's lingering footprints by this time, and Terra resisted one final urge to follow her. She was smart; she wouldn't get lost.

The shadows cast by the flashlight swayed in their own private dance. Walking through the street alone was an entirely different experience. Before, he had been amazed; now, he only saw danger. It would be so easy for something to sneak up on him in the fog, or pounce from one of those giant buildings. Their constant presence felt suffocating now, like the bars that kept a caged tiger from running free.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. He whipped around, brandishing the flashlight like a sword. The beam itself revealed nothing, but on the fringes of the light he was sure he saw a leg slip out of view.

"Hey!" he called. "Is someone there?"

No one spoke, but there was a scuffing sound, like someone had just skidded to a spot.

"Uh, hi. My name's Terra. I was wondering if you've seen a friend of mine."

The answer was too soft for him to understand, but encouraging. Terra didn't even realize how tight his grip had been until it loosened. "He's really short," Terra said, stepping forwards, "and he has spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. Uh, I got a pen so I could try drawing him for you."

The ground made a decidedly wet sound. Terra couldn't see any slush. However, when he lifted his foot, something came with it. Red drops fell back to the earth, staining the pristine white blanket that hid it. Blood. He'd stepped right in a puddle of it.

He leapt back, eyes wide. There were more; sticky pools lay scattered like the paw prints of some enormous beast. There were no signs of a struggle, no ripped clothing, no body, no indication this was something apart from a usual decoration. But whatever this world's customs, Terra couldn't stand idly by.

Though it was true they were widely spread, the pools still undeniably led further away. There was nothing connecting one to the next, as though the blood had fallen from the sky. He summoned his keyblade, flashlight held steady in his other hand as he stalked down the street.

Oh. He'd found the body.

At the very end of the street where the road ended, there was a small alley between two stores. A man slumped against the wall there, head lolling to the side as if in sleep. But the state of his chest left no illusion of a peaceful slumber.

Terra's feet were rooted in place. Glassy green eyes stared him straight in the face. Terra had seen death before, had passed dying men on the streets when he was a boy, but never anything this violent. He didn't want to get closer. He really didn't want to get any closer. But he was a keyblader, and duty dictated that at the very least, he tried to figure out what threatened this world.

It got even worse when he looked closer. Before, he had thought it was just a random stabbing. Now, he knew better. The man's shirt had been ripped down the center, so stained with blood that he couldn't tell what colour it had originally been. The skin on the chest looked as though it was cut away, and the ribs were cracked as well. Most disturbing of all was the heart, or should he say the lack of one.

He felt nauseous. Terra stumbled away, covering his mouth, although that didn't stop the sickly smell from penetrating. The cool air was welcome on a face that suddenly felt too hot. Who had done this? Or should he be asking what?

Terra steeled himself. A warrior didn't back away from a little blood. Ok, so this was more than a little and definitely had never been mentioned by the Master, but the point still stood. He tried to look straight at the body again and use some of Aqua's detective skills, but chickened out. His stare slide away, and that's why he noticed the writing on the wall.

Are you sure you want to find him?

With all the blood on the body, he wouldn't have thought it possible for there to be enough for that grisly task. Yet someone had still taken it upon themselves to leave a note, and Terra couldn't help but feel it was meant for him. But he'd already found the body, so who was left to find?

No. His heart lurched. No, it couldn't be. But if this message was really left for him, and there was only one person he was searching for . . .

"Ventus!" The shout ripped from him. It sounded more like the roar of a lion than anything. The man in the alleyway was forgotten as Terra tore back the way he had come. This message could be a warning, or it could be a threat. He had to find Aqua now!

He thought the wailing was his own internal alarm, ordering him to find his friends. Then it became apparent that he wasn't imagining things, that it really was sirens he was hearing. Again that creepy feeling of being watched passed over him.

That's when it turned dark.

It was too quick for it to be the sunset, and too dark for it to be a cloud blocking the sun. He hesitated, vapour rising as he panted. The fog peeled back, and darkness rushed to fill the empty space. The snow underfoot was turning an inky black colour.

He pointed the flashlight at the sky, trying to see what was going on. He failed, and snow continued to tumble down in the spotlight. A flake landed on his nose, and Terra wiped it off with the back of his hand. Wait. That was wrong. This wasn't snow, but ash.

He heard a hiss. A storm had come to life in the form of a sweeping shadow, peeling paint and stone from the buildings to reveal a worn, beaten and filthy structure underneath. Wooden shutters crashed down in the windows; chimneys crumbled and fell apart; the street lights were twisted and crushed until only a dim halo remained.

He backed away as the road began to crack. It . . . it was dissolving, flaking away as easily as the paint had, sucked up into the sky by an invisible force.

He was going to run now.

The sirens wailed. Terra's heart raced as he ran, the beam of the flashlight bobbing crazily. There was no time to summon his keyblade, not when this thing was creeping up upon him. Structures collapsed in the shadows, and once or twice, he saw some object turn straight into mist.

Fear made him swift, but the darkness was faster. It slid past him, and the dirt at his feet curled away and vanished. It gave him the oddest feeling at first, like he was walking on air, but then he realized that the ground was still there, just black.

Almost an entire block ahead of him, the wave of destruction continued. Terra looked himself over to check that he wasn't about to disappear, and found there wasn't even a speck on his clothes. Convinced that the danger was false, he slowed his pace and gasped for breath. There was no hint of sunlight now, and yet he could see further than he could before. From here, he could see the other side of the road and the red vines that slithered down its length. Good thing he was on the sidewalk.

But what about Aqua and Ven? The bloody writing came back to him. He had no idea where they were, if they knew what was going on or where to go. Who was to say that they hadn't dissolved along with everything else?

Don't say that! his mind snarled. He was still here, so there was no reason they shouldn't be. He was going back to the apartment to find Aqua, and then he was going to grab Ven by his hair and drag him home. Yes. That would do nicely.

There was a new sound. He tracked it to its source. A small black box, nearly cracked in half, leaned against the rusted leg of a bench. He picked it up and his only reward was the steady buzz of static. It only got worse as he shook it, and he tossed it over his shoulder without a second thought.

"Aqua?" That was definitely movement he saw. At the sound of his voice, a figure came closer. Darkness shielded it, but he caught a wispy haze leaking from its arms. Although before he had been insisting otherwise, his fears that his friends were fading away returned with renewed strength.

"Aqua!" Hand outstretched, he reached for the figure. He was close, much too close when he realized it wasn't her at all. But as if just noticing that Terra was a stranger too, the creature flew backwards out of reach.

He wasn't sure what it was. It had a black, humanoid figure, though one without features, and it moved as fluid and seamlessly as a dancer. A constant mist rose from it, flowing into nothingness as if the darkness was trying to drag it into its depths. It inched away from him, and then slunk closer like a shy dog.

Terra had spoken to this world's inhabitants, and they are appeared to be human like him. Certainly, none of them had spoke of a living shadow. He didn't think it was a heartless; his keyblade would have reacted if it was. Whatever it was, it seemed harmless, and he tiptoed closer with all the caution required to corner a wild animal.

Clink.

Keyblades were basically that: a blade. Consequently, Terra knew everything about what they sounded like. That was why it only took him a split second to hear that noise and react. Earthshaker slashed through the air, striking his would-be assailant in the chest.

The shadowy creature behind him vanished, and Terra was left alone with his opponent. Where the other had been tall but flimsy, this creature was small but solid. Its blue skin looked more like armour, or perhaps a shell. Its arms were nothing more than sharpened points, thin blades itching to rip and tear. It writhed on the ground, leaving deep cuts there as it struggled to stand. He should have finished it then, but he was too shocked to move. Until the thing lunged, that is.

A body with such stiff joints shouldn't be quick, but this was. He couldn't see the arms as they swung, only the dim light that reflected off their blades. The blast of air that followed in their wake seemed sharp enough to draw blood. The sound of clashing metal rang as he instinctively blocked a blow he couldn't see with Earthshaker - thank goodness for all that practice against Ven!

Terra swung, and the creature dodged. It landed about a foot back, the tips of its blades skimming the ground before it straightened. A soldier's stance, that's what it had. Maybe that's what it was, a warrior from an unknown army. For the first time, he saw the black symbol carved into its chest. The symbol encased a rough outline of a heart; two lines crossed through and cut it into thirds; on both sides, a pair of spikes extended from where the heart curved near the top. Yes, that could be the emblem of an army. But why was he a target?

The soldier charged again. Terra dropped his weight; he wasn't as swift as Ven or as lithe as Aqua, and he doubted his ability to dodge. But he had strength, that was undeniable, and if he made a clean hit he would slice the soldier in half.

He swung, Earthshaker parallel to the ground. The soldier ducked, wove underneath and past the keyblade, but Terra had anticipated that, and he stepped out and behind it. The momentum of his swing brought Earthshaker over his head, and Terra slammed it down on the soldier's back.

I killed it, was his first thought. His horrified eyes caught every spasm, every gurgling hiss. Then the soldier simply fell apart, the armour chipping away from its body. Black flames rose, and the soldier was swallowed by the darkness.

Nothing was left, not even a drop of blood, and there should have been a lot of it. The soldier had been blue instead of black, but could this be some new breed of heartless? The neoshadows Terra had seen with Master Eraqus looked more like the shadowy figure he saw earlier, but it was possible, right?

He really started to worry about his friends now. Ven had always been . . . uneasy when it came to the heartless. He had never been able to tell them why; Terra only knew that the sight of them had a tendency to drive the younger boy into a trance. If Ven was cornered by them, even if Aqua was cornered by them . . . he didn't want to think about what could go wrong.

Clink.

His head snapped up. Another soldier marched forwards, flanked by another, and another.

Terra was painfully aware of how dark the street was, of how many soldiers could be hidden. A Fire spell was on his lips, but was it really worth it? Did he really want to fight out in the open where he could be attacked from all sides? Of course not! Terra may not have been as well-read as Aqua, but he knew how to fight. And sometimes in a fight, running was perfectly acceptable.

He could hear them marching after him, the metallic sound of their steps as steady as a drum. It didn't help though, not when he thought he saw another one everywhere he looked. So he stopped looking, just kept listening for that one that was too close.

He blasted a couple with a Thunder spell, and then forced the front gate to the courtyard open. He pushed it shut, using his keyblade to lock it. The soldiers continued to march, stopping only when they found their path barred. Sparks flew, but the soldiers seemed incapable of sawing their way through. Thankful for the reprieve, Terra turned his back on them.

He locked the back gate for safe measures too. He could still see the faint footprints Aqua had made when they first separated, and a much fresher trail leading to the shed, indicating her return. She was okay! Relief swept through him, but there was still that tinge of worry; she could be hurt.

"Aqua?" Terra pushed open the door and entered the shed. It was empty.

Meanwhile, Aqua stared out at the foggy world and wondered why the shed door had suddenly opened on its own.