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.15 The Hunt
With Clayton in tow we made our way through the Deep Jungle, Tarzan taking the lead. While we kept going however, I couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of Heartless. "I don't get it. If there are absolutely no Heartless in the world in this world, then why would the King even bother to come here?" I thought aloud. "Maybe he thought there was some here, and then he left when he found he was wrong," Sora suggested. "If he left, then why are we still looking for them here?" Donald asked, irritated. "Gotta remember Donald, we found that Gummi the moment we got here. So there may the chance he hasn't left yet," Goofy said. "And we're still looking for Riku and Kairi," Sora reminded him.
Donald glared at Sora at that last part, and I sighed as we reached a part of the jungle that we had to get through by swinging on vines. Was there any way that this was going to get fixed? Tarzan was way ahead of; swinging through the jungle by vines was something that I guessed he had a lot of practice in. I wasn't so lucky; the closest thing I had ever done to this was a mountain-climbing exercise Master Eraqus had me and my friends do. I smiled at the memory; those had actually been some of the happiest days of my life. No saving the world, no fighting the Unversed, just the four of us training to make our hopes and dreams real. I nearly fell when I jumped towards the next vine to early, and I shouted as I had to cast a quick Aero spell to propel me forward.
The act reminded me of how things had actually turned out. Only Aqua and I had become Keyblade Masters, and one by one each of my friends met their own grim fates. Only I survived, and even then it wasn't long before I had met my own fate as well. I summoned Stormfell in my free hand. The little light that was here in this part of the jungle ran along the metal. The only Keyblade I had left that I could control; all my others had been lost after that single event so many years ago. We reached the end of the vine section and kept going, and while my body moved my mind went back to old memories.
"Xehanort, are this is going to work?" I asked, hesitantly standing beside the other five apprentices. "Nothing to worry about; I have run all the necessary tests. The darkness that makes up the Heartless originates from the darkness inside people's hearts. I am positive of it," he said, looking up from the screen at me. "An acceptable thesis, to be sure. But must we, the testers, become the testees?" Even asked. "There are no other members of the castle or the surrounding town that know of our work here, not even Master Ansem is aware. And we cannot bring in someone else in case their jaws become unhinged," Xehanort reasoned, and turned back to the computer.
There was a mechanical beep as the setup was complete, and Xehanort walked next to us as the machine powered up. "Remember my friends, this must be done for our research to succeed," he reminded us. I was still unsure, we all were, but Xehanort's confidence as usual helped bolster our own. So we stood there unflinchingly as the machine shot forward and hit us all with a beam of light straight in the chest. The next thing I saw was a darkness blacker than any I had ever seen.
I was snapped out of my memories by the sound of Tarzan talking, but it wasn't in any language I understood. On a ledge in front of us was a large black gorilla with a smaller female one next to it, and several other gorillas were behind them. I heard Tarzan say "Kerchak," while looking at the large one. That must be him. "Uh, did you get that?" Goofy asked, wondering if he understood Tarzan. "No," Donald replied. Kerchak looked upwards and turned away, and Tarzan said "Kerchak..." "He seemed kind of distracted by something," Goofy said. "Was he looking towards the Tree House?" Donald wondered. Upon hearing that I sent my senses outwards, and was able to feel the hearts of every living thing in the forest. I felt one heart that was actually in the Tree House... and the one slowly approaching it.
My eyes snapped open. "It's Clayton! He's heading for a gorilla that's in the the tree house!" I exclaimed. Sora's eyes widened and he said "We have to go after him!" For the first time in a while both and he Donald were in agreement, and we all ran back for the vines. Rather than wait to reach the other side though, we let go and fell down into the pond full of hippos below. Ignoring the fact that the hippos were eying us like their next meal, we swam out of the pond and climbed the nearby set of branches until we reached the area above, and set out from there. We made it just in time, as Clayton could been seen taking aim and one of the younger gorillas. Then Donald ran forward and yelled loudly while flapping his arms, causing Clayton to jump in fright just as he fired.
The shot hit the ground right next to Terk, who ran towards Kerchak above. Tarzan spoke to him and it sounded like he was pleading for him to wait, but Kerchak merely walked away angrily. I sighed and glared at Clayton, who was sitting on the ground. He noticed our looks and said "You don't understand. I was only trying to... Ah! A snake slithered by, you see. I saved that poor gorilla's life." Tarzan looked like he didn't believe him, and I said "Not buying it. Stand up." Hesitantly he did so, and I said "Turn around and put your wrist together." He rolled his eyes and did, asking "What, are you going to put me in cuffs now?" "Not exactly," I said, drawing Stormfell and pointed it at his wrists.
"Blizzard!" I called, and sent a blast of icy wind at Clayton's wrists. The water moisture in the air condensed and froze, forming a ring of ice that fit perfectly around his wrists. Clayton shouted at the chill and said "What re you doing?!" "Putting in ice cuffs. Now get moving," I said, poking him in the back with my Keyblade. Seeing no avenue of escape, Clayton did as I said and walked forward, while Tarzan guided us in front and the rest of us stayed behind to make sure he couldn't escape. We reached the camp and walked him into the tent. "Oh, you're all back! Did you find you friends So-" began, but stopped when she saw the ice around Clayton. "Dexal! What are you doing? Why is Mr. Clayton wearing shackles made of ice?" she asked.
"Long story short, we just barely kept him from putting a rifle blast in one of the gorillas," I said, flicking my wrist and breaking the ice. Jane gasped before glaring at Clayton. "How could you do such a thing?!" she demanded. Rubbing his wrists to try and warm them up, Clayton nervously said "Now Mrs. Porter, it's like I told them. I was aiming at the gorilla." "You are not to go near the gorillas again!" Jane order angrily. "All because of one mishap? Come now..." he said, but his smile faded when he took in all of our expressions. Without exception all six of us were glaring at him with anger. Realizing that he had no hope, Clayton turned around and left. But not before I caught the first signs of anger appear on his features.
Once he left we all looked at each other, and sighed. "What am I to do with him?" Jane wondered aloud. "I don't know, send him back to England?" I suggested. "That won't do, its been made clear that the plane will only return us on a single trip. If I send Mr. Clayton away, then I'm stuck here for good," she explained. "There's no cell or anything here, so is there any way to keep him imprisoned?" Sora asked. "No, we don't have anything like that. The closest thing we could have to a cage would have to be built by hand, and that could take days," Jane said. "Then... I guess you just have to make sure that he doesn't get near the gorillas," Goofy told her. We all nodded, but no sooner had we done that than a large gunshot fired through the air.
"What the-?" I began, before Jane said "That was Mr. Clayton's weapon! He may be in danger!" "Let's go!" Sora said, drawing his Keyblade and running out. With the exception of Jane we all followed, and outside we saw a single gorilla standing in the middle of the camp. What worried and surprised me was the beings around it. "Heartless!" Sora exclaimed. I nodded and summoned Stormfell, running to into the fray along with Donald and Goofy. The Heartless turned their attention from the gorilla to us and ran forward, a total of six Powerwilds to contend with. One of the jumped into the air and swiped its claws, which I blocked and responded by kicking it with my shoe back the other direction.
Sora jumped into the middle of the Heartless and spun in circle, hitting three of them unexpectedly while the other jumped away. "Yeah!" Donald called, and casting a quartet of Fire spells. They all flew forward and hit two separate Powerwilds, who both burst into shadows. "Four..." I said, and jumped off a small rock into the air. One of them jumped up with me and tried to go for a roundhouse punch, which I ducked under and spun over to give it a bicycle kick to the head. It shot back to the ground and I threw my Keyblade, yelling "Freeze Raid!" My Keyblade hit the heartless and it immediately froze, sealed in a block of ice while Stormfell flew back to my hand. A simple rap with my knuckles made the ice shatter, and the frozen shards of the Heartless with it.
"Three..." Goofy said, running forward and tackling another Heartless with his shield. It fell back, dazed, and Goofy took the chance to stomp hard on its foot. The monkey-like monster gripped its foot and hopped on the other, until Goofy swung his shield and hit it with the edge hard enough to cleave the beast in two. "Two..." Donald said. The fifth Powerwild came for him and he jumped back, shooting another Fire spell. The ball of flame would have hit it straight in the chest, but at the last second it dropped down and slid across the ground until it kicked Donald in the knee. His eyes watered and Donald glared the Heartless. "Oh yeah? Then try some of this!" he said, and cast more than half a dozen Thunder spells.
The small bolts of electricity caused the beast to jerk and spasm until it simply fell, nerves overloaded from the stimulus. It was then that Donald cast Fire one more time and obliterated it. "One... and now zero!" Sora declared, stabbing his Kingdom Key into the chest of the last Heartless. If faded away as the heart rose into the air, and I smiled. "You've gotten stronger, Sora. And you as well, Donald and Goofy," I said. Sora smiled and said "Thanks," while Donald and Goofy did the same. "Why would there be Heartless here, though? There weren't any before," Donald commented. "I don't know, but if they're here then we can bet that they're elsewhere, and they seemed to be targeting the gorillas. We have to make sure they stay safe!" I said. They agreed, and we ran out of the camp in search of the Heartless.
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Bad Clayton, trying to hurt the poor gorillas! Will Dexal and the others be able to stop him in time? Find out next chapter!
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