Hello to everyone and fanfiction. To the (potential.. huh guess I keep repeating that..haha) readers. Definitely not my best work, imo. haha. I did my best but felt I didn't capture the others' personality. I had a hard time capturing them but lemme know what you guys think and comment what needed to be improved reviewing so I could improve myself. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts and everything in it nor do I profit from it. It is merely for entertainment.

05/24/19: I edited the chapter but uploaded the chapter late.

Water slide down Sora's face, it honestly felt like a wet towel was being dabbed on his face. It was a disgusting scent that forced him to wake up. "Please get off me," Sora said trying to barely stand up and pushing whoever was wetting him. Dangerous monsters may lurk everywhere.

Just as he opened his eyes, the hybrids' daze was blown away. No, it was not Destiny islands. Houses and floor were built using bricks, cement and it smelled of smoke? He wasn't sure but it was like nature was overwhelmed by man unlike in their home. Looking up, it was already nighttime. The stars shone brightly down upon them. The minute Sora fully registered this, the memories of the previous event washed down on him like a large wave that he immediately looked for Kairi.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted as the still unconscious form of Kairi. She was still at the end of the alley which really worried him. The girl was now being stared down by the yellow dog who he realized was the one licking his face earlier. "Kairi! Look! We're on another world!? Isn't it amazing? Come on, wake up," he said excitedly gently shaking her still body but still no response. She breathed but no reaction came from her.

"Kairi?" Worry etched on his expression when he realized she wasn't waking up no matter what he did. He swallowed slowly, fighting his rising panic as his heart pumped blood faster. "Kairi, C'mon. You gotta wake up, this world is amazing!"

Sora leaned on Kairi's chest to check on her heartbeat. Anxiety filled him and cases of what-ifs that he dared not thread further into popped on his mind and quickly stamped it down. So, he instead hoped and thought of positive outcomes. Whatever happened to Kairi, he knew she'd wake up soon and he'd be showing her around.

Thud.

Thud.

The hybrid boy smiled in relief when he heard her heartbeat even though it was slow. It was better than nothing.

"Do you know a healer around here, boy?" He asked the dog as he carried his redhead friend. The dog stood on all fours and wagged its tail in excitement that he couldn't help but reciprocate as it nodded. "Lead on boy!"

His new dog companion ran out of the alley quickly with Sora on his tail as stood with its snout pointing on the first building to the left just outside of the alley. "Is this it?" The yellow dog nodded and ran off but not without Sora saying a big thank you to his guide. At any point, Sora would've been excited for exploring the worlds and meeting its people but not this time.

With a gentle knock first, the boy entered. They entered a shop, a blacksmith if he guessed right. The interior had obvious designs of it like the weapons on the wall and some lingering odors of iron, bronze, fire, and charcoal. A ladder was situated at the end of the wall. He only knew or was familiar with the scent of it was because he helped in one when it was summer. Also, because he was bored and the blacksmith was really nice to him.

Shaking out of his thoughts, "hello? Anybody here?" he called out.

The shop was empty, no one manned the counter. There were no signs of life. "Huh, guess the dog thought someone else was here."

"Whadday'a kid?" a gruff voice called out.

"Ah! Where'd you come from!" Sora shouted as a man out of nowhere came out of the counter. The man was tan and bulky and had spiky blond hair with a cigarette on his mouth. The man wore a white shirt and baggy pants that had thin striped orange waistband. He stood behind the counter hand on his hip.

"You're new here, aren't ya? I've never seen you or that girl here before." Sora nodded at his words trying to force the image of the destruction of Destiny Islands.

Smiling, he said, "were we that obvious, mister?"

The man huffed, "a boy like you would stand down in a crowd and quit the chatter, boy. I run a business, ain't got time for chatter."

Sora didn't like the way he said boy, "My name is Sora," he snapped scowling at the man. "This is Kairi. But we have no time for chatter too," he stated as he settled Kairi on the couch and ignoring the mans' indignant expression. "She needs help. Kairi won't wake up for some reason."

The brunet lion boy checked her for high temperatures, injuries, or any sort of wound but no. She was relatively fine to the best of his knowledge. "Please, mister. I can pay you later if that's what you want."

Mister shopkeeper, despite his roughness, was gentle as he checked Kairi himself. The man hummed as he observed her, "you're right. That is strange. I better call Aerith."

Relief washed over him. Don't worry Kairi, you'll be fine. Hopefully, Aerith will help you.

"And Kid?"

"Yeah?" Sora replied, not bothering to look at him.

"Name's Cid. And don't go outside. I mean it. Heartless roams this dark land." He said gravely.

Heartless? The boy looked at the man then asked. "Heartless? What are those?"

"Ah…" He scratched his head tiredly but wave those dismissively. "I'll explain later. In the meantime, just stay put an' if anybody asks for me, tell 'em I'll be back quickly. Got it?"

Sora nodded.

The boy while waiting, to stop the anxiety from overwhelming him, he checked what the old man was selling. Beneath the clear glass were vials of different colors, mainly green, blue and red. Aside from that, he also sold strange glowing materials that he couldn't identify. The hybrid thought it was ores but he couldn't be sure because they were freaking glowing! He could feel the heat coming from the object.

"Don't touch that, Kupo!"

Sora quickly turned to face a floating animal? Whatever it was, it was white and had a distinct antenna with a red ball on its end. "Sorry, uh kupo," he said unsurely if Kupo was its name.

The weird creature looked proud as if it was right. "You should be. No one should handle dangerous objects without assistance, Kupo! Especially not someone as young as you, Kupo."

Why does it keep saying kupo?

"Eh, what are those anyway?" he inquired his curious gaze directly on the declared dangerous objects.

"You don't know, kupo?" his alien acquaintance said in shock? "It's commonly used for enhancing items, kupo!"

Sora's weird companion floated above the glass and pointed towards a crescent-shaped red gem. "See that, kupo? That's a blaze shard and its very hot, kupo." The kupo creature described in detail each of the materials on the glass and with each material explained his mind was blown away. So many materials that were amazing! It could freeze, electrocute, blow anything when just raw materials. By the end of the discussion, the materials deeply impressed him. It was so out of this world!

He sighed, if only Kairi and Riku could see it. He'd bet that his older friend would even be amazed by it. Or if Kairi was awake to see it, he bet she'd be asking a bunch of questions about it.

Sora could see how the creature was somehow displeased in explaining it. "So, what does it enhance? Can it be used in enhancing strange weapons?"

The creature tilted its head in wonder, "strange weapons, kupo?"

He breathed deeply, raising his arm forward then willed the Keyblade to form. Light. Sora searched for the thing that casts the brightest light inside of him. It took a few seconds, he suddenly realized, to summon it without adrenaline.

When he summoned it, the floating creature immediately assessed it. "Amazing kupo! It just like the king and those kids' years ago, kupo!" The Kupo being gushed over it excitedly floating from one place to another checking it from every view. "Amazing, kupo! I can't believe I will ever see one up close again, kupo! Keyblade, kupo!" The creature shrieked. It knows about the Keyblade?! The boy was shocked that anybody would recognize it. Not that he'd know because he didn't know if he was the only one who could use it or how had any idea if keyblade users were rare or common.

Confuse, Sora scratched his head. "Uh, you mean… uh that you've seen one before?" It's good. I guess. Now I can have someone train me with this and take back Destiny islands! The hybrid excitedly thought as he wondered who these the three and the king was.

Kupo nodded its head fervently, "oh yes, kupo! It was ten years ago? Or more? But there were three of them, I think kupo. I even helped improve them but they disappeared so I wasn't able to thank them for helping me perfect my prototype, kupo. I wanted to give to them the mastered version but I couldn't find them. The king didn't want to try my keychain, kupo. Saying that he felt someone needed it more than him, kupo." The small guy's antenna now sagged when he said the last part. Keychains? How does that help improve the Keyblade?

Sora perked, having an idea. "Well, maybe if you'd like uhm… I could take it off your hands. A trade maybe?"

Kupo creature looked at him seriously. "Maybe, kupo. But what will you offer me kupo?"

The boy shrugged, "well, what is it that you want?"

"What I want is not easy to find," he said. "I require rare materials that can only be found in each individual world. Rare items are also acceptable payments."

The boy from Destiny islands could only sigh in hopelessness. There goes his plan of getting that amazing keychain. How was he supposed to go to other worlds when he didn't even know how'd he got on this strange new world!

Hearing the door creak made Sora lose his grip on the door and stood beside Kairi waiting for the healer to fix Kairi. "Cid, you're back!"

The man entered along with three other people. The first one was a fair-skinned brown hair woman tied into braid and bangs framing her face wearing a pink dress. She had this serious yet easy going attitude that made her easy to approach for him.

A short black-haired metal headband using girl, probably older than him by a few years, wearing a green tube top that was held by two green straps and tan short-shorts entered following the first woman. She merrily hummed.

The last one, the man. Sora didn't know why but he didn't dare look at the man. His eyes were fierce and his aura strong. This guy had long brown hair in black glove, jacket, pants, and shoes. A sword was held in his hand.

"Hello moogle," the woman greeted.

Huh, so moogle is its name.

"Greetings! With Cid back, I can get back to the shop upstairs."

"Hey Cid, who's the strange looking boy?" The youngest of the three asked.

"Kids name's Sora," the gruff man replied going back behind the counter to sit.

The energetic girl beamed at him, "nice to meet you Sora. Name's Yuffie. Ninja extraordinaire!" Yuffie grasped his hand. "That's Squall. Don't let him bother you. He may look scary but he's nice inside."

"That's Leon," the serious man corrected.

"Hello Sora, my name is Aerith. Pleased to meet you," the healer woman smiled as she introduced herself.

"Can you heal her?" It might be disrespectful for Sora to directly asked but to her, but time was of the essence. He'd apologize later.

The woman sat next to Kairi then closed her eyes with her palms just above Kairi. Her hands slowly glowed green and it soon covered his redhead female friend. Aerith remained like this for what he thought was five minutes.

She suddenly said frowning, "it's strange."

"What's wrong?" Sora managed to say. The minute he thought Kairi was okay then another thing comes.

The brown-haired woman shook her head. "That's just it. She is fine but…," Aerith paused then looked at Sora. Please be okay Kairi. He mentally repeated those words. "I can't see what else is wrong with her, but I don't see her waking anytime soon. She's under some type of coma."

"No," Sora whispered now kneeling beside her. He couldn't do anything to protect her. What kind of friend was he? "I'm sorry that I put you into this Kairi," he muttered as he took her hand. His eyes were beginning to moisten, but he quickly blinked it away. There must be a way. There always is.

Sora looked at the person who then poked him on the shoulder. "Hey, cheer up Sora. There's someone else who could help. Right, guys?" Yuffie suggested.

There is? "Who? Tell me and I'll bring Kairi to him," the hybrid said quickly. Hope. He shouldn't lose hope, he thought strongly.

"Merlin," Leon answered as he leaned on the wall. "But he's currently out. We don't know where he went."

"Just point me towards his house and I'll wait there," Sora insisted. He would not be passive if he knew a way out of it. He would do what it takes to help Kairi. Not even those dark creatures can stop him.

Aerith shook her head, "you can't, it's too dangerous. The heartless attacks are increasing gradually. We fought a lot of them just to get here."

"I can defend myself," the boy scowled. "I know how to fight."

"The heartless are more dangerous than you thought," Leon countered, not moving from his position. "They are creatures of darkness that can rip your heart out."

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, that's why going to old man Merlin's not gonna be possible."

"Give it up kid. There's no arguin' with 'em three if they agree so," Cid stated on his post reading a magazine.

"No, I can do it." Sora was genuinely nice and amenable, yes, but there are times that he lost himself to his emotions and one of them was his impatience.

"Sorry kid, no can do. Don't want ya' to die out there." Cid stated, and looking at the older man he was serious. He would really stop them. The boy didn't know if he could take all of them at once, especially that Leon guy.

Sora briefly looked at his unconscious friend, then said, "Kairi needs help."

Aerith's steps clack on the floor as she approached him, "I know. But you can't exactly help Kairi while fighting. I think your friend would not like that." Sora suddenly found the floor amusing to look at. Part of him argued that he could do it but then remembering why Kairi was like that in the first place, he didn't argue anymore. He didn't want to put her into more danger because of his foolhardiness. No one needed to get hurt because of him.

"I…," he muttered weakly falling back on the other chair and slumping. "I understand."

The ninja girl grinned brightly. "That's the spirit. It'll be over soon because we'll just have to wait out the heartless because sooner or later they'll give up."

"What are the heartless?" The lion hybrid boy asked trying to control himself and asked to not think of Kairi's state for now. He really wanted to go to this Merlin's house, but damn it, he had no choice right now but to wait.

"Heartless," the black-clad man started and walked up to behind Kairi's sofa. The man observed him greatly. "They are the physical manifestation of the darkness of our hearts. They are mindless creatures. Once they swallow your heart, you will become one of them."

Sora's heart shattered when he realized he forgot about the islands. He shuddered at the thought of becoming a mindless monster. Everything that happened was just… so fast.

He couldn't bear the thought that he might kill them if that happens. Within the deepest part of Sora's mind, his heart collapsed. What if mother, Selphie, Tidus and Wakka became heartless? He hoped that was not the case.

"Destiny islands. Our world," Sora muttered. "The strange creatures that attacked us must be the heartless. There was this giant black monster with a hollow mid-rift. It destroyed our world to pieces." Sora fought back the tears now that he was thinking about it. His failure to destroy the monster led Destiny Islands to be destroyed. His heart felt heavy, he just realized. Their lives were on his hand and the boy blinked his tears and clenched his fist. The hybrid's sharp nails dug into his skin nearly piercing it if it weren't for Aerith making him uncurl it.

"Everything will be okay, Sora." The older woman consoled him. Sora nodded dumbly. "Everything will be fine when we find the key." Yes, everything will eventually be okay, but how many people would have to be caught in the middle for the Heartless to stop?

Sora's eyes were starting to hurt. His hand moved automatically to realized that he was crying and wiping the tears away. He let go of everything that happened to him in the past hours. He cried. He didn't care if anyone saw him now. Especially people he barely knew. No, he didn't care. Everything was just too much for the boy to handle without his friends. Riku was gone elsewhere and Kairi, he didn't know what was wrong with her. Their home razed by the… these heartless beasts. The boy's heart screamed in anguish he didn't know he could feel. It screamed at him telling him to just shout it out. To let it go.

So eventually for Sora, everything became too much to bear at that point that he needed to let go. He needn't dare look at the people around him to know that they were giving him pitying looks that he usually would hate but he promised himself just for this time that he would unveil himself.

He could feel Aerith's arms snake around to hug him. "Shh, it's okay Sora. We understand what you feel."

"How," he asked as he cherished the warmth she was giving him.

"Our world, they were taken by the heartless too," Leon stated with what he could tell was sorrow. "Maleficent, she took over our world by surprise with the help of heartless." The man's great emphasis on the name with great disdain was obvious. Yuffie, the happy girl she just met became serious. If this Maleficent is the one that destroyed their world too then… Sora's sorrow. It mixed with his anger. He would stop whoever that name belongs to!

"Yeah, we couldn't save everyone," Cid contributed to the conversation, his voice taking a darker turn. "My prototype ship could only carry so much."

Yuffie hummed. Sora realized that the sad look did not suit Yuffie, "Yeah. We tried but couldn't. It is said that only the key has the power to seal a world's hearts and protect them from the heartless." The context of Yuffie's words was lost on Sora but he understood that maybe he could protect more people from those monsters if they find this key.

"Key?" he asked slowly only looking at Kairi.

"The Keyblade," Leon answered curtly. Sora froze at the mention of the name. Keyblade, he said silently."The only weapon that can kill the heartless permanently. A tale Merlin told of three Keyblade masters from before. How they saved the world once."

Sora was on autopilot; his thought was on the Keyblade. It can save them! Wiping the tears away, he raised his arms and light lit it up. Hope filled him. Maybe not everything was lost.

Gasps were heard, the three stared at it intensely with only Leon being the stoic one.

"Keyblade! What are the chances of that Leon?" Yuffie said gaping at him or rather at what he held.

"Well, whadday'a know? The boy has it after all." Cid said approaching him now and already examining it.

"Sora," The gentle woman called, "Do you know what you have there?" Sora nodded at Aerith's question.

"Why? Why would it be with a kid like you?" Sora narrowed his eyes towards the swordsman when he said this but he let it go. He was clueless as to what the Keyblade was, and these people seemed to know more about it than him, so he let Leon's words pass.

The boy cleared his throat and blinking out his tears, "I just got it recently," he paused, readying himself to say his short tale. No, be strong Sora! You will not cry. "I got it before…" the hybrid clenched his fist that it shook, "our world was destroyed." Starting with that he recounted his whole story, the calm before the storm. Throughout his storytelling, every word told stabbed him. The pain. It empowered and weakened him to tell it.

After his tale was told, the people gave him a look, that for him, he now understood as an understanding of it. Not just pity. His bloodshot eyes looked at them one by one and he could feel camaraderie towards them despite just meeting them for the first time.

"Well, that was quite a tale. But rest assured, we'll help ya out the best we can. And we can start that by training him before he sets out on his journey," the oldest member of their group stated. "We can't wait for Merlin to come back."

The swordsman nodded in agreement quickly, "I'll oversee it."

"And I'll look for the Kings' men. People said they saw a pair of odd looking people wandering about in the second district," Yuffie said her mood back to being jovial.

Cid said something more but, his ears twitched then. A loud booming sound. Was it approaching them? Focusing his senses, too many, Sora counted. They smell like… His instinct told him it was dangerous. Heartless!

"Heartless!" he screamed already running out of the shop with Keyblade in hand.

Glancing everywhere, Sora looked around frantically. His body coiled tightly like a spring and ready for battle. They would not take this one too! His heart screamed.

The rumblings continued as it kept getting louder much as a force of nature. "Where are you?" he muttered jumping to the roof of the Cid's shop.

Bang.

He turned his attention to the large door. Rumblings came from behind it. Continuous banging at the door was heard.

"Sora," Yuffie called beside him that he nearly jumped out of fright. When Yuffie looked like she was gonna say more, he gestured for her to stop.

"Heartless," he answered without prompting.

Seconds later, Aerith and Leon stood with them on the roof.

"Where's Kairi?" he asked them. He hoped the old man would be able to protect her. The brunet hybrid boy couldn't afford to worry about her safety while fighting.

The ninja girl just gave him a smile despite the serious situation. "Ah don't worry Sora, Cid can take care of her." He hoped so. He had to just put his faith in Cid.

Aerith's hands glowed red, Yuffie disappeared and Leon brandished his sword just as the large door bust open and came in swarms of heartless.

Heartless filled the street, squirming like dark water with yellow spots and approaching them fast. Sora lost his breath because of how many there were. What he faced back in Destiny islands wasn't this many! They surged like a great wave during a storm and he doubted that he or they can defeat all of them.

A huge ball of red suddenly flashed towards the great swarm of Heartless, exploding, swallowing a huge chunk of them. It made him gape at it widely. He only stood there shocked. Aerith said something but he didn't hear it well enough. Aerith unleashed an… wind blades!? The torrent of wind was swift and sent them everywhere, destroying their haphazard close formation.

"Sora!" the older woman said urgently. The boy dashed forward swinging the Keyblade and joining the fray with Yuffie and Leon. He didn't have time to admire their efficiency.

Sora swung his Keyblade, downing three of them but he moved swiftly to jump back as a horde of them landed where he was. The boy was ready to defend himself as another group attacked him but he jumped again and spun just as they jumped after him turning them to dust.

His heart thumped with great anxiety and dare he say, a little excitement. It sung to his very being as he felt the shiver run through him.

Once landing, the hybrid didn't waste time by quickly waving the key to block a claw set upon by a monster then pushing it away.

"Sora, get back!" Yuffie ordered as he then flipped back as a swooshing sound came from behind and cut down the dark creatures running after him. Yuffie's attack was followed by a white blue spiky thing when it impacted those monsters, ice impaled and froze the monsters.

Such power.

With a given chance, Sora was already smashing the frozen Heartless into tiny pieces. A sword swooshed beside him with a great swift cut. Leon's attack was fast. He could barely keep up with him!

The lion hybrid dashed toward where their number was most but he can sense that the stoic man followed him. Sora was surprised when another type of new Heartless showed up. It wore a metal helmet and armor. The thing headed towards him but he parried its punch but he realized it later that it was different than the others too because of its enhanced strength. The place was filled with chaos and Sora focused on his senses to gain his bearings.

A small Heartless from the side dashed towards him and he dropped his defense to catch the attack then proceeded to throw it against the new type but his enemy dodged it and lo from behind it another of its type appeared to ambush him.

"Duck," Leon ordered quickly and Sora didn't question it after seeing the mans' battle prowess, he saw a fireball flew towards his planned target and burning it. His tail grabbed another new Heartless' foot and spinning fast while cutting down a swarm of them down. His tail, as much as it hurt him, threw another shadow towards Leons' blade which the man killed easily with a horizontal swipe and move to mow another. His moves were flowing, no attack was wasted.

Sora moved backward when he saw he was about to be overwhelmed but he growled upon feeling he was blocked by another. He damned the Heartless' number. It was many, but he refused to give up. Not when Kairi's safety was on the line.

So, pushing all of his will into his strikes, he unleashed his animalistic fury. Loud growls came from him. His claws and fangs lengthened a bit, the fur on him stood erect as his senses went into overdrive.

Everything became a blur to him, his senses overwhelmed him greatly as it became unfiltered. The scent of the amassed Heartless hit him harder than before. Its stench was worse than he thought it would be! For him, it was like a combination of many pungent odors he ever had the luck of stumbling upon. He could feel a major headache coming but he had to push through it before he was killed by their numbers.

Before he had time to process a stimulus, his body was already on the move as he jumped and dived which he landed gracefully in a crouch then turned three sixty degrees cutting those around him.

He registered one on his backside. Reverse gripping his blade, he stabbed it before it could reach him. The wild hybrid didn't let his hurting stagger his form and continued on his onslaught. He ducked when another one of those new Heartless strike him, then raised his armed arm cutting the armored Heartless when it was vulnerable midair.

Quickly sidestepping a claw and stabbing its owner. Then, he jumped towards the midair heartless who were smart enough to jump to avoid the huge roaring fireball. A bunch of them climbed the wall and materialized on the highest end of it and jumped. His foot met and pushed down the small Heartless then also use it as a boost to slice an armored one vertically. He stabbed downwards when he knew there was one beneath him but not before using one again to leap higher.

The brunet smirked when he saw the heartless helpless as they fell. Using his claw to stick to the wall for a second, he jumped higher to meet them as they attempted to dive. His first victim tried to crash into him claw first but he stabbed it as his tail grabbed another that attempted to pass him. Grabbing it with his hands then, he returned it upwards. His eyes widened when their drop speed fastened making him crash directly to it and they fell together.

He hoped that the Aerith would have something to stop his fall. "Aerith!" Sora shouted. Oh shit, shit shit shit! Damn his tunnel vision when under Fury, the boy cursed. He didn't control his strength that he jumped higher than he could land safely and now he was going to crash!

The brunet hybrid boy screamed as he kept falling. He tried to untangle himself from the two armored Heartless who held him with their strong grip as their claws dig through his skin somehow. Sora bared his teeth and growled as his self-control now was gone because of the crazy armored Heartless that was dancing above his tangled body as if celebrating his fall. Literally.

Dammit! C'mon please, Aerith! He prayed because if the woman can cast fire and ice then she'll surely have something to stop his fall whilst struggled continuously. With the wind blowing over his ears loudly, it negated his senses for any reaction he could hear from below. The boy could roll but he didn't dare risk it that his captors would just shift position as he fell face first.

"Goddamnit! I can't break free!" Sora roared furiously.

The brunet half-lion didn't think much of it when lightning struck the three monsters turning them to dust as he then rolled to position himself for a rough landing.

Bracing himself for the rough contact to the ground, he immediately gritted his teeth for the pain that was to come but when none came he was shocked. Below him was a glittering sphere that shouldered his fall. Another came before just below him and he followed it.

When he saw that he could manage it, he jumped immediately down the floor and forgetting the barrier as he threw his Keyblade at a Heartless that Yuffie missed. He felt satisfaction when it disintegrated to dust, but it left him weaponless as his Keyblade disappeared after. The boy didn't have time to summon it again as three armored ones dashed towards him. He tried to claw it but its armor was hard enough to stand it that he hissed in pain and retreated for a moment. When one followed him immediately, the boy clenched his fist and hits its face sending it careening back towards the open door where no more Heartless came from.

Another minute and their party of four defeated the swarm. Sora stumbled slightly but managed to gain his footing before turning towards Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith who now stood guard at the large entrance.

Leon was looking increasingly worried as he warily looked around. The man didn't even look tired. Plus his form was still immaculate as he met him earlier. All three of them made it unscathed and looking on his form, his hoodie, baggy shorts and gloves looked too crumpled and beaten up. "Yuffie, I want you to check on the residents. Do a headcount," the man ordered, lips pursed.

"While I'm at it, I'll try to find the kings' men," the girl nodded as she bounded off.

Sora didn't let his defense go down. Now that he realized it, he's just feeling the effects of fatigue as he breathed deeply and lean against the wall for support, hands clutching his head. Dammit, I just had to use that. He thought but just thinking of it made his headache bite back. That form, he called it Fury, simple as it was, releases his primal instinct somehow but for some unknown reason, it always left him with a bad case of mental pain. Now that he realized it, why didn't he used it earlier when they were still on Destiny islands? Another wave of pain but this time it was accompanied with nausea, so he shook any thoughts away.

"Was it ever this bad?" he wheezed out a question with breaths in between words. "That was a lot of them."

"No," the man replied curtly. "We have to hurry. Their attacks are getting relentless," the stoic man thought aloud with his arms crossed.

The brown-haired woman stood before Sora and checked up on him for any injuries but she gave a satisfied nod when she found none. "You better be careful next time Sora. You can't just rush into a battle head on without a care. It's only a good thing you managed to return not too injured," she said gently chastising him and her hands glowed raised pointing to him. A surge of relief entered him that he couldn't help but groan in relief. His claw settled back, his tail uncoiled as he reverted to normal.

Sora ever wondered if Leon was ever not stoic, and maybe sometimes worries about something or was he just plain unreadable —and self-disciplined to not let his emotions get the better of him—because with the way the man looked at him calmly he was being scanned. While Aerith healed him —he reminded himself to thank her later— the two had a staring showdown. Neither one of them willing to back down as the older man gazed at him without revealing anything whereas Sora narrowed his eyes on defiance.

The staring contest continued until the black-haired swordsman broke their silence, "What are you?" The man inquired.

I don't even know myself. He shrugged, "I… I don't know too," he struggled to say. He somehow found it hard to admit he doesn't know what he was. Can he say he was human when was he has animal characteristics? Or can he say the vice versa? "Why?" he said with confidence that he normally had. I hope this Merlin guy knows, he hoped. For once in his life, he wants to get a clear answer to things important to him.

If the boy had the answer, he would've never wanted to put that on his agenda on their journey. Their journey now ruined by the storm that changed their life, his bitter thought said.

He broke eye contact with Leon when the glowing green receded from Aerith's hand then bowed gratefully at the woman. "Thank you, Aerith."

Hands held him as the older woman gently forced him to stand straight, her smiling expression greeted him, "No need to do that, Sora. It's no problem. We are always happy to help."

When Sora turned to check on Kairi, Aerith grabbed his arm. The hybrid only tilted his head in confusion.

"I'm sorry but we have no time Sora. Kairi will be fine under Cid's protection but, we need to train you now," she stated. Her expression or more exactly her eyes wasn't exactly pleading but it wasn't gentle either. The woman then glanced at the swordsman who nodded.

Sora was rather hesitant to leave his friend with them. Not that he didn't trust them or deny their power to protect her but he just had the need to defend her himself.

"We've no time to lose. Your training must come first. The worlds need you."

So, Sora with a reluctant sigh replied tiredly, "lead the way."

He followed both adults to who knows where to train with the Keyblade. To say that he was scared was an understatement. Don't get him wrong, he would love to save all the other worlds out there to prevent the fate of another going like Destiny islands but… To know that their fate lies on your shoulder gave him a heavy burden that he didn't know if he could accomplish it or not.