Finally a little action! I really wish that there had been some kind of simulator in the other games. Can you imagine?

Roxas: "As a fellow gamer, yeah, I can imagine."

You're a fellow gamer?

Roxas: "Sure am! DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else. If he did, well, it would have a simulator.

--

Chapter 11: Kairi's Training

Sora put the ship on auto pilot as everyone stood up and started chatting. He heard Donald say, "Estimated arrival time at Twilight Town: five hours."

Now Sora took a moment to check just who was there. Himself, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and the King. Yuffie, Barret, Jack Sparrow, Genie, Hercules, and Kiara. And finally Hayner, Pence, and Olette. That made fifteen of them on this journey.

It seemed that subtlety wasn't the numder one priorety this time around.

Riku was immediately pulled into a conversation with Yuffie. Donald tried to get Stitch away from the ship controls and started a fight (which Goofy tried to break up). Genie and Kiara had disappeared somewhere. Jack had sat down with his rum bottle, and was offering Barret a drink. The Twilight Town gang was talking to Hercules about his past battles.

Sora walked over to Kairi and asked, "Why don't we start that training now?"

She thought for a moment, and said, "Sure. I'd better be prepared."

"Alright! Lets find that simulater thung."

"I can help with that." Said a tiny voice from slightly below them.

The two looked down and saw King Mickey smiling up at them. "Follow me, and I'll get you started."

The king led them from the cockpit through a door at the rear of the ship. They proceeded down into the bowels of the ship. They passed the galley and a few bedrooms (one of which the two were excited to learn they would be sharing again), and found a larger room in what Sora assumed was the center of the ship.

From the outside, it was just a plain featureless wall with a window and a computer console beside it. Above the window were the words "Simulator Room".

"You guys just head on in, and I'll get things started out here."

Sora and Kairi traded a look and walked through the door. They were in a completely featurless room with white walls. It seemed quite large, which surprised Sora given the amount of room in the ship.

Mickey's voice suddenly echoed throughout the room. "Okay, fellas. I'll start you off slow. And Sora, remember that Kairi is the one that you're training, would you? Not yourself."

The room suddenly changed. Instead of a white room, they now stood in a large clearing in a forest. Trees were all around them, and Sora could hear a waterfall in the distance.

"Oh my lord." Kairi sighed from behind him.

"Pretty impressive, right?" Mickey said. "Now, let's start with simple Shadow Heartless. You take it from here, Sora. Just let me know what to do."

A single Shadow popped up from the ground at the edge of the clearing. It hunched over and peered at it's surroundings with it's huge, unblinking yellow eyes. They focused on the Keybearers, but it didn't attack yet.

Sora turned to Kairi. "Summon your Keyblade."

Kairi held her hand out in front of her, and her mysterious weapon appeared there in a flash of light.

"You know, you really should name that." Sora commented.

"Huh?" Kairi asked, giving him a confused look.

"The Keyblade gets a new name whenever a different keychain is added. Oblivion, Oathkeeper, Rumbling Rose, Hero's Crest..."

"Destiny's Light." She suddenly said, gazing into her blade. Sora looked at her for a moment. "It just popped into my head."

"That's how it works, usually." He faced the virtual Heartless again. "Okay, back to business. Take down that Heartless."

Kairi charged at the Heartless with her newly named Kayblade held in one hand at her side. The Heartless sprung at her, responding to the attack.

Sora was surprised a bit when Kairi overlept the Shadow and landed on the other side. Not missing a beat, she spun around and slashed through it from behind, reducing it to a tiny cloud of dark smoke.

Another three Shadows popped out of the ground, encircling her. She didn't appear at all nervous, and stood in a ready fighting stance. She stood fairly straight. She held the Keyblade in front of her with both hands, pointing forward and into the air slightly.

The opponent in front of her lept toward her while the two behind her sank into the ground.

Kairi chopped the first one in half in mid-air with a single downward stroke. She lept backwards the second before her other two attackers burst from the ground beneath her. She landed squarely on her feet and swept her Keyblade into their backs, destroying them as well.

There was a five second pause before five new Heartless appeared in a line in front of her. They were all Soldiers, not much toucher than the Shadows, but they would still present more of a challenge.

They charged at Kairi all at once with their claws swinging. Looking at them from this angle, Sora couldn't help but think that they looked a bit silly.

Kairi parried the first one's clumsy attack and stabbed it through the stomach. She backed away quickly to avoid an attack from the next one, which she whacked away into another one with the flat end of her blade. She rushed at the other two and cut them to ribbons with a few lightning fast slashes.

She lept at the remaining Heartless and beheaded one. The other backed away quickly. Kairi wasn't going to let it move in again though, and took it out with a left-to-right slash.

Sora looked her over for a moment, before his face broke out into a broad grin.

"You've done some training already haven't you?"

Kairi smirked at him. "I didn't think you guys should always be the ones fighting, so I did some training of my own. Not that it did me much good until The World That Never Was."

Sora smiled wider, his respect for her growing even more.

"Let's try something more challenging then." He said. "Um, how about Armored Knights?"

Three knights dropped from the trees and landed behind Kairi. Their right hands and feet were swords, and their bodies were completely covered in dark grey armor.

"Now would be a good time to practice spells." Sora said "Unless you've been practicing that behind my back, too?"

Kairi giggled at him and nodded.

"Let's start with fire." He said. Then he realized that he wasn't sure how he could explain how to use magic.

"...Well?"

It had always seemed to come naturally to him. He tried to think of how he usually produced magic, what went through his mind as he harnessed his power. He pondered it for a few moments, before he voiced his thoughts.

"You have to feel it."

Kairi didn't seem to understand, so he elaborated.

"Imagine the fire all around you. You feel the fire's intensity, it's power surrounding you. Then, get closer. Gather it into yourself, call it to your hand, or your blade." He demonstrated by forming a ball of fire in his palm. "Feel it. Concentrate on it. And once you're sure you have it, direct it." He stretched out his hand and shot the fireball at the Heartless in the middle. It exploded in flame.

"Feel it." He repeated.

Kairi gazed at him for a moment with a thoughtful expression. She slowly turned her head to the Armored Knights. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Sora and Kairi simultaneously thought of fire. The warmth of Mushu's scaly muzzle, the oppressive heat of Agrabah's desert, and the destructive inferno Axel had once summoned.

Unknowingly, Sora had transferred some of his own thoughts to Kairi to help her. The tip of Destiny's Light ignited, and her eyes snapped open. Without hesitating, she pointed the tip at the Heartless, and the flames burst from it. They hurtled at them and collided with a booming noise. The flames spread upon contacting with the first enemy, consuming the other along with it.

When the flames died out, none of them were still standing.

Sora immediately started clapping. "That was incredible, Kairi!"

She was gazing at her blade as though unable to believe that she had done it. Then she laughed weakly and beamed at him. "I did it!"

"You did! That was better than what I could do on my first try, hands down."

"What about the other spells like blizzard, and thunder?" She asked.

"It's the same concept, but let's stick with fire for now." He said "It takes some time to get used to using it in battle. Let's get you some more targets." Another five Armored Knights fell from the trees, but this time they immediately advanced on Kairi.

She was ready for them, she pointed her Keyblade and let fly another burst of fire. It caught one of them full on, but the others were able to dive out of the way. Kairi ran right at a second knight and took it out with the blade itself before it could get it's balance back.

She twisted around in time to black a downward slash at her head from the third. She struggled for a moment, before tossing her attacker's blade away and stabbing it in the head.

With two left, she dropped into her fighting stance again and faced off with them. Nothing moved for five seconds. Then both Heartless charged Kairi from either side. She rushed right back at the first and brought her blade crashing down onto it's head. She spun on the spot, and impaled the final knight as soon as it got to her.

She hardly broke a sweat.

Sora nodded to himself in satisfaction.

Brotherhood, look out.

--

Okay! Twilight Town is next! How do you like the name for Kairi's Keyblade? Review Please!

Shinku Ryuuga: Oh yes, it would be. (evil laughter).

Heaven-monument: Um... I love you too? Ha! Seriously, Genie is one of my favorite characters.

Elevategirl: Thanks! I didn't realize that the nightmare was that good!

Suna's Kinzoku Tenshi: I figured it was time for a super-sized Gummi.