Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Ch.4

I feel through the darkness, unsure of where I was, where I was going, or even which way was up. Eventually a light appeared below me, and I passed through it and into a new world. I shouted, suddenly seeing a cobbled square with streetlights below me. I shouted in surprise as I landed, receiving a face full of stone and almost breaking my nose. "Hey! Are you alright?!" I heard a young, female voice say. I groaned, slowly pushing myself up and into sitting position. "Yeah, I think so," I said, casting a quick Cure spell to held any bruises or scrapes I may have gotten.

The young stranger sighed in relief, and I looked up at her. She had to be sixteen, maybe even fifteen years old. Short black hair framed a face with chocolate brown eyes, and she had a bandana wrapped around her forehead. A short green tube top held up by suspender covered her top half, while the lower was covered by a pair of beige short-shorts and a blue belt, along with orange boots and thigh-high socks. On her arms were a pair of black sleeves that reached from her elbow to her wrist, and she wore a pair of brown-orange gloves. "Who are you?" I asked, and she smiled. She pulled a shuriken from her pocket and struck a pose, saying "I am the most fearsome warrior in all of history. Kneel before me, the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

I smirked, saying "Dexal, nice to meet you. Can you do me the favor of telling me what world I'm in?" She looked back at me from her pose and put the shuriken away, helping me up. I took a look around; the same cobbled stones that I had fallen on covered the whole area. Street lamps stood in regular intervals, and a small coffee shop was to my left. A large door both behind me and to my right, while ahead was set up step, up which stood a store that said "Accessory Shop." "This world is called Traverse Town. Based on that question and including the fact you just feel from the sky, I'm guessing you're from another world?" Yuffie asked. I nodded. "Yeah, the Heartless showed up and destroyed it, and scattered my friends and I."

She frowned, her cheerful expression fading. "You too, huh? I'm in the same boat, along with my friends," she said. I nodded. "Looks like we've all lost worlds to the Heartless," I said. Yuffie nodded sadly, saying "Me and the others, we've been looking for a weapon called a Keyblade. If we found it and its wielder, then we would have a chance of getting rid of the Heartless once and for all. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?" I smiled. "I think I can do better than know," I said. She looked at me, and I raised my hand before summoning Stormfall. Yuffie gasped, looking at me with her eyes wide. "Wha- Bu- You- You're the chosen one?!" she nearly yelled.

"Not the one you need, but I'm good friends with the Keyblade Wielder who you need to find. I can help you do it," I said. She beamed at me, grabbing my hand and saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! Come on, we have to meet up with Leon!" she said. I looked at her in confusion. "Wait a minute! Who's Leon?" I asked. She looked back. "One of my friends who's been looking for the Keyblade, who else?" she said, and I nodded. We left the front of the First District, and had almost made it to the Second when a pack of Shadows suddenly rose out of the ground.

"Heartless!" Yuffie called, pulling her shuriken back out her pocket. I tightened my grip on Stormfall, moving into a battle pose next to her. "Stay on guard!" I said, and she nodded. Running forward, I called "Take this!" and slashed horizontally across the chest of one Shadow, killing it instantly before blasting another with Fire. Yuffie threw a trio of shuriken at one Shadow and watched as they cut it to shreds, before she caught them and kicked the fourth Shadow in the stomach.

I grinned; Yuffie was a good fighter, but at that moment a Large Body and trio of Soldiers appeared. "More of them? Come on!" Yuffie groaned, jumping back. Two of the soldiers ran towards her, and I could visibly see one of her shuriken grow in size and glow with magic. She threw the enchanted weapon at the soldiers, instantly cutting them down like clear-cutting trees. I looked at the last Soldier and the Large Body and smiled, concentrating my power until a ball of black flame appeared in my hand. I called "Dark Firaga!" and threw it at the pair of Heartless. The spell exploded in blast that incinerated the Soldier and sent the Body flying until it crashed it a wall, where it slumped down to the ground.

"Not bad. Now let me finish this!" Yuffie called, running forward throwing her enchanted shuriken. But before I had a chance to warn her it bounced right of the Body's huge stomach, slamming into hers. She doubled over and fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her while her weapon clattered against the ground. The Body stood and scratched its head, looking from me to Yuffie. Then it seemed to make a decision, and pump a fist against it stomach before charging at her. My eyes widened and I ran forward, calling "Yuffie!" She tried to stand up and get away but the Body slammed its stomach into her, sending her back until she landed against a door and fell down.

My eyes blazed with anger, and I pointed Stormfall at the Heartless. "Hey!" I called, and it turned to look at me. I smiled maliciously. "You like hitting hard? Then have a taste of my Zantetsuken!" Instantly I drew my Keyblade back and crouched, and before it could move shot forward in a single blindingly fast blow. The Body burst into shadows and faded, felled instantly by the move. I looked at where it had stood for a second before dismissing my Keyblade at kneeling next to Yuffie. "Yuffie? You alright?" I asked, shaking her shoulder gently. She groaned lightly but didn't move, and I sighed again before picking her up, hefting her over my shoulder.

"Since I'm going to be carrying you to him, mind telling me where Leon is?" I asked. "Hotel… Second District…" she managed to say, before going limp. I nodded and began moving, picking up her shuriken and carrying it with me. As we walked I stopped, suddenly feeling a presence emerge from the shadows a little ways off in town. I was tempted to stop, but I knew that I would see him soon enough. So I kept going, but I muttered "See you in a little while, Sora."

xxx

I walked through the Second District until I made it to the Hotel, luckily encountering no Heartless all the while. As I pushed the door opened and was greeted by a long hallway, with four doors on the left side and none on the right. "Hey, Leon! Are you in here?" I called, and I door by the end opened. I expected to see Leon, but instead it was another girl, one with braided brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a pink dress with a blue belt around the waist, and a pair of brown boots. 'Who are you?" she asked, unconcerned by the appearance of a stranger. "Name is Dexal, nice to meet you. I'm here because of… well…" I said, trailing off and gesturing to the girl over my shoulders.

She gasped. "Yuffie!" she called, running forward. "What happened?" "We were attacked by some Heartless in the First District. She threw her huge shuriken, and it bounced off one's stomach and into hers, and then it smashed her into a door," I explained. I transferred Yuffie into the girl's arms, and I asked "So what's your name? are you a friend of Yuffie's?" She nodded. "Aerith Gainsborough. It's nice to meet you Dexal," she said, while walking into one of the hotel rooms. The room had a distinctly Chinese theme, and she set Yuffie down on the bed.

"Heal," Aerith whispered, and her hands glowed green. The light shined and wrapped around Yuffie, repairing any injuries and restoring energy. "There," she said, standing up and smiling at me. "Thank you for brining her here. Are you new to this world?" I nodded. "Yeah, mine was destroyed by the Heartless. Speaking of the Heartless, aren't you guys looking for the wilder of the Keyblade?" I asked. She nodded, and I held up my hand. Stormfall appeared in my hand, and she blinked in surprise. I smirked. "Isn't this the part where you grab my hand, jumping for joy, and pull me to go meet this Leon?" I asked. Aerith chuckled. "No, only Yuffie has that much boundless energy. But I can take you to him," she said, and I nodded.

She led me through the side door and into another room, this one green, but to my surprise it was empty. "That's weird. Where could he have gone?" she wondered. I didn't know the answer, until my senses went off and I looked out the door. "Sora!" I called, and ran through. "Dexal, wait! Where are you going?" Aerith said, but by then I was already out the door. I had just enough time to see Sora run through the doors back to the First District. I tried to run after him, but immediately a trio of Shadows rose out of the ground. I grunted angrily and slashed Stormfall, destroying them instantly before running forward. More appeared, five Shadows and two Large Bodies, and I jumped over them.

"You're in my way!" I called, slamming my Keyblade down and bringing with it a slew of meteors. They destroyed all the Shadows and sent the Body flying, immediately guarded by a trio of Soldiers. One swung its foot and jumped at me, and I blocked the blow with Barrier before using Counter Blast. My barrier shattered and the crystalline shards were sent flying, knocking the soldier back with a few shards digging into its chest. The Large Body stood and thrashed around, the outline of its body glowing purple. It charged forwar teleported behind it, calling "Fire!" and unleashing Triple Firaga.

Three balls of burning flame shot from Stormfall and blasting in to the Body's back, incinerating it before it turned to the Soldiers. One ran forward and slashed at me with its claws and I wasn't quick enough to turn around and block, resulting with a large set of scratches across my back. I growled and my eyes turned briefly black. I spun around faster than was normally possible, and shot forward using Dark Haze. My body was briefly enveloped in shadows, and when I smashed my way through the Soldiers they were inflicted with Doom. Exactly five seconds later they exploded, bursting into shadows and fading away.

I ran through the doors to the First District and could hear it; the sounds of Sora fighting with someone else. I was just about to help when I heard someone behind me say "Don't." I turned, seeing that it was Aerith, who was holding up Yuffie. "I recognize the voice of the person fighting your friend. It's Leon," she said. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I asked "Then why is he fighting him?" "Leon wants to test your friend. To see if he had what it takes to be a Keyblade wielder," she explained, before adding "So please don't interfere." I didn't like it, but nodded. Still, I would watch the match, so I cast Vanish before running around the corner.

Sora looked the same as ever, only this time with the Kingdom Key in hand. The other man, Leon, had long brown hair and blue eyes with a scar diagonal across the bridge of his nose. He wore black pants and a white shirt with a short black jacket, two brown and one black belt, black zipper shoes and black gloves. In his hands was gunblade, which he swung with surprising strength at Sora. Sora shouted in surprising and barely dodged it, jumping back before running forward and attacking with the Kingdom Key.

I sighed; Sora was swinging the Keyblade like a huge club, no wonder Leon had not trouble avoiding him. Said person leaped back through the air and landed on the far side of the square, where his hands started glowing red. Sora ran forward just as he cast Fire, and was sent the way he came with his shirt on fire. Sora hurriedly tried to bat it out, and succeeded although his jacket was singed. Despite that he didn't give up, and kept charging. Once he was close enough he swung heavily, and managed to hit Leon in the side hard enough to knock him off-balance.

Now that Leon had faltered Sora kept it up, and I smiled. That was one good lesson; once your enemy had lost their balance, don't let them get it back. Still, from what I had seen of Leon I already knew he was a seasoned fighter. A fact I was proven right about when Leon rolled out of the way of Sora's assault and cast Fire. Sora fell back and Leon ran at him, instantly turning the tables and placing Sora on the defensive. My natural instant to help kicked in, but I managed to force it down just enough to stay unmoving and invisible. Still, Stormfall appeared in my hands, and the sound of it being summoned drew Leon's attention. He looked over in my general direction, and Sora took the opportunity to deliver a vicious blow to the side of the ribs.

Leon shouted in pain and Sora readied to deal the final blow, when he lunged forward and slammed the flat of his blade against Sora's head. I winced from the force of the blow, and the two of them fell back from each other. "You're… You're gonna…" Sora managed to say, before falling over and fainting. Leon drew a deep breath and stood, and Aerith said "You know Leon, I think you're slipping." We both turned to see her standing there, still supporting Yuffie. "I went easy on him," he said, and I snorted. He looked at where I stood, but I was still invisible, so he shrugged and said "Still, looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."

"Well, things may not be as bad as they seem. Sora's not the only person we know who can use the Keyblade," Aerith commented, and he raised an eyebrow. "Really? Who?" he asked. She smiled and nodded at me. "Dexal." I dropped the Vanish spell and reappeared, grinning at the dumbstruck expression on Leon's face. "What the-? Another Keyblade wielder?" he asked, looking from me to Stormfall. "Nice to meet you Leon, my name is Dexal. And as for my Keyblade, it's a long story," I said, walking over and picking up Sora. "But first, let's get my friend here some treatment for that blow to the head, no?" He still looked thunderstruck, but nodded and followed me and Aerith back to the Second District.

xxx

Well, there goes the fourth chapter, and soon to come it the battle against the Guard Armor!

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)