Hi everyone, welcome to the new year, 2022! I'm back again with another chapter for this story! Today, this piece is more dialogue heavy than most of my pieces. It's more focused on other wielders here in Daybreak Town.
Okay, now enjoy!
*NOTE/SPOILER WARNING: It takes place AFTER KHIII*
NOTE 2: Lots of retelling of the experience of "Player" in KHUX, but in Sora's View
NOTE 3: Sora is NOT Player, he's just got similar experiences. Player exists somewhere doing the main story, but they don't cross paths... I Think...
DATE: February 24, 2022
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Chapter 7: Let's Struggle!
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"Oh come on, you've been at this all day already. Shouldn't you just stop?"
"No! Not until I complete the challenge."
"Ugh, you're unbelievable. It was just a joke, ya'know?"
"I didn't see that particular statement as 'a joke' as you say. That was a clearly assigned challenge."
"Ugh, I give up."
A guy and a girl were arguing with each other as they went to submit their mission report and lux collection count to their union's office. The girl was clearly outraged and the boy looked tired of her nonsense. The boy behind the counter noticed their spat and commented, "Lovers spat 'ey? What? Someone challenged you and the girl got all defensive in your place cause you wouldn't take it seriously?"
The boy who was arguing looked up at the other boy behind the counter, "Actually, I got defensive and my FRIEND," he emphasized clearly, "is the hotheaded one. She was challenged to a duel and when she won, the guy said it was beginner's luck and bet she couldn't win a hundred challenges in a row."
The counter boy raise his eyebrow, "You know we can't fight other members with our Keyblades, right?"
The girl just spat and laughed confidently, "I know that. That's why I carry these around!" She summoned what looked like foam bats, one in each hand. "They're just for sparring, so we're not breaking any rules."
The boy next to her just sighed, "See what I have to put up with? I thought boys were normally this hot-headed. Apparently, girls can be too."
"Hey! I resent that! I'm not hot-headed, just free spirited!" She yelled, getting all defensive.
The boy behind the counter just shrugged, "So long as you aren't breaking any rules. Anyway, you got to keep the line moving, can't have you standing around here all day, others want to go home and eat or just knock out once they hit their bed."
"Yeah, we're going!" Both the boy and girl said and waved goodbye to the counter boy.
These two had just finished up a mission over in Agrabah, the bane of most, if not all Keyblade wielders' existence. The place was nothing but dessert and sand. Even the town was all sandy, the walls were sand colored, but at least the inside of the buildings were colorful. It was too hot in the morning and too cold at night. It was after a mission here that they met in the hub place, a red room that was where most of the Keyblade wielders, as well as a couple of palace guards, considered their safe haven from the heartless attacks. When the two came back from a mission, a boy in that room saw them together as the girl was bragging about her accomplishments to him. There, that other boy decided to provoke her and that's what led to the challenge of a hundred fighters. Since that day, she had been challenging people before and after missions in duels of varying rules. Her streak was going well, she was already on her 98th win. The boy just spectated the matches and told her when she won, but at this point, he was just getting tired.
"Alright! Now that we're done with missions, let's find two more challengers!" The girl pumped her fist in the air, excited to battle.
"Yeah, you do that. I'll be glad when this is over."
"Ah, don't be like that. Once I prove to that guy I can win, I can rub it in his face!"
The boy sighed, "Seriously, I don't care. I just want to do other things with you again."
As they were walking to Starlight Park, they noticed a young girl with long black hair sitting down with her Chirithy on a picnic blanket. She and the Chirithy were taking out food from a basket and setting it all down. It was looking like a lot of food if you asked her. Was the girl expecting any company? The boy's stomach rumbled at the sight of the food. He was hungry and he bet his friend was hungry too. Though it was a surprise to see that his friend was approaching the girl, he probably knew what was coming next.
"Hey! You! Picnic blanket girl!"
"Who? Me?"
"Yes you! What's your name?"
"I'm [Insert Name Here], and you are?"
"Doesn't matter who I am, cause I challenge you to a battle!"
[Insert Name Here]'s eyes widened frantically looking at Chirithy who was now walking up to the girl, "Woah woah woah! You can't just battle other wielders, it's against the rules to battle with Keyblades."
"Who said anything about Keyblades?" Immediately she summoned the foam bats and tossed one over to [Insert Name Here], clumsily catching it.
"Wait, I can't fight you! I haven't even had lunch. Also, we're expecting our friends to meet us here." She nervously spoke.
"We'll have a quick battle then. First to ten hits is the winner."
"Uhh…"
"Fine, not convinced? So, if you win, I'll give you..." she dug into her pocket pulling out a slip of paper, "Here, a meal voucher I haven't used for Starlight Café. But if I win, we get to have some of your lunch."
The boy sighed, the girl who was just happily minding her own business until his friend decided to butt her head in there just wanted to relax and eat. She clearly wasn't expecting anything to ruin her day, but now his friend had and she wasn't going about it the right way. He watched as the girl looked around, probably looking for her friends who were coming to have lunch.
"Okay, fine. Our friends aren't here yet... So... I'll take you on." [Insert Name Here]'s Chirithy was surprised by her actions. She knelt to her Chirithy and whispered, "I don't think she'll leave me alone if I keep saying no. So I'll just challenge her. If I lose, it's just a little food. Besides, you know I cooked more than probably the four of us could eat combined."
Her Chirithy nodded, also sighing, "Okay, if they come, I'll fill them in." [Insert Name Here] smiled and thanked her.
The girl who challenged her was getting impatient, "Come on! Hurry up already!" [Insert Name Here] nodded, getting up and moving far away from the picnic blanket.
When both girls were in position, the boy stated the rules, "This will be a hit battle, first to ten hits is the winner. Hits will count only on the body, hitting the bats is considered a block. When the first hit is made, reset your position and begin again. I'll be the one calling the game. Agreed?"
Both girls agreed and the boy called, "Ready? Fight!"
The hot-headed girl went straight in for the hit, while [Insert Name Here] nervously moved out of the way. She wasn't use to this kind of aggressiveness, but then again, this would be good practice if a heartless moved similarly to her. She dodged, the other swung. She dodged again, the other swung. It was a game of dodge and swing until the boy announced the first hit. First hit went to the hot headed girl. [Insert Name Here] sighed, it wasn't a good start, but she was able to learn from her opponent's moves. They reset their positions and began again, this time she made the first move and the hot head blocked.
"Not bad [Insert Name Here]!"
"You're pretty good too!"
For the next fifteen minutes, the matches went on like that. The two gave it their all and were close to an end. [Insert Name Here]'s score was seven hits while the other girl's was nine. In this final battle, they decided that this was the time to go all out. So they did. They used all the techniques they had learned from their Keyblade wielding through dodging, weaving, and preforming more skillful moves until, "Hit! Point goes to you! Ten points, battle decided!" The boy points to his friend, who does a fist pump in the air.
"Woo! Finally! Ninety-nine wins! Just one more and I'll have a hundred win streak!" She was panting, but smiling more genuinely than she did all day. This match was more fun than her usual matches for some reason. Maybe cause for once, instead of thinking about the streak, she started thinking about all the ways to best the opponent in front of her. Or maybe it was because of the food.
[Insert Name Here] was also panting, but walked up to the girl, "That-that was a great ma-match." She was taking breaths between her words, smiling. "You won, fair and square. I owe you lunch!"
After [Insert Name Here] said that, she heard multiple claps. One from the hot headed girl's friend, the other from four Chirithy, and the last was from…
"Hey [Insert Name Here]! Great job!" It was Sora! She nearly fell over a bit, but caught herself just in time. "Sora? When did you get here?"
He laughed and his Chirithy answered for him, "We got here when you were on your sixth win. We've been watching ever since."
"Ohh." Her face felt hot, whether it was from embarrassment that he saw her or from the heat of battling, she wasn't sure. Sora had been helping her ever since the festival ended. He had shared his techniques and his stances with her, and through them, she found her own style of fighting. They would spar with wooden swords and play games to better their reflexes. She still couldn't beat him, but she was slowly getting better and more in control of her swings and dodges. It was kind of nice now that she thought about it, these practices showed her she could hold her own against someone else. Even if she did lose, that was still a plus in her book.
The hot headed girl had enough of the little exchange, "Hey, so I won, a deal's a deal!"
"Oh! Right! You all can come sit down with us. Now that Sora's here, we can eat."
So sit they did and enjoyed all the food she cooked. [Insert Name Here]'s Chirithy agreed with her statement earlier, her wielder really did cook too much. It was a good thing that there were more of them to enjoy the food. As they all ate and drank water or tea, they got to know one another a bit better. They found out they were from different unions, but it's not like it really mattered since this wasn't about the Keyblade. It was just a group of friends enjoying themselves.
Sora ended up thinking a bit before he turned to the hot headed girl, "So why did you challenge [Insert Name Here]?"
"I want to prove I can win a hundred times in a row and rub it in a boy's face who gave me that challenge." She punched her chest confidently.
"So you only need one more win then?"
"Yep! Why'd you ask?"
"How about a challenge with me?" Sora smiled confidently.
"Oh? What do you propose as a challenge? I usually let the challenger pick the type of battle challenge, but I got a bit caught up with [Insert Name Here] and the food in my face, so I chose one myself." She turned to her, "Sorry about that."
[Insert Name Here] smiled, "It's alright, I had fun anyway."
Hot headed girl nodded and turned back to Sora, "So what's the challenge?"
"Have you ever heard of Struggle?" The two newcomers and their Chirithy blinked at that. "A struggle? Like physical fight with no weapons?"
"Guess not. Well, it's a type of battle back in some of my friends' home town. They have these orbs attached to them and battle with foam bats. The first to collect the most orbs within three minutes of battling wins the Struggle!"
"Interesting! Never heard of it, but it sounds like a fun challenge!"
[Insert Name Here] realized something, "Wait, Sora? Was that what we were going to do today? You were going to teach me how to do a Struggle battle?"
Sora's smile grew large as he revealed the bag he had apparently had on him this whole time. Inside were foam bats and gear where the orbs could stick but also easily fall off if hit with enough force. One was blue and the other was red, each suit had a hundred orbs each.
"So this is why you were so excited last night!"
"Yep, I got the Moogles to help me out with making this. They're really great at crafting the best stuff!" His smile was so big that everyone around him also smiled. That smile was infectious but they didn't mind.
The boy was impressed, "Wow, this looks like a fun game! Hey Sora?"
"Yeah?"
"Mind if I take your match instead? I think I want to challenge her as the hundredth challenger." Sora was surprised as well as the hot headed girl.
"What? You? The one who was opposed to me taking this challenge?" She thought he was joking.
"Why not? What better way than to challenge a friend who's been with you for all the rest?"
"Oh?" She was intrigued.
"Besides, this looks a lot more fun than just a plain old hit match or steal the bat game. You actually gotta think a little and react quick while fighting." He turns back to Sora who only nods and hands the bag of gear over to him.
"Fine, I accept. Let's get this started!" She smiled so cockily as she was handed to gear.
The boy and the girl put on the gear, she wore the red and he wore the blue. The girl looked herself over and looked at the boy. "You look ridiculous!" She giggled.
"I could say the same thing about you!" He yelled back, smirking.
Oh this riled her up. She was fixing up her stance as well as he. Sora stood a good distance and called out, "This is a three minute match! I'll watch you and [Insert Name Here] will call the time. You can only attack with the bats to knock off the orbs. Whoever has the most on their person at the end wins." The two nodded at Sora and then looked at one another, sizing each other up.
[Insert Name Here] looked at the park clock, waiting for the second hand to make it to twelve. Before then, she began to countdown, "Five, four, three, two, one, Start!"
The two wasted no time, running at each other and they were locked in combat. Both traded blows with one another, but while the girl was more focused on getting hits, she failed to notice that he was successfully knocking off the orbs, leaving them scattered on the floor. It wasn't until she accidentally tripped on an orb did she notice how many were missing, fallen to the ground, and how many were attached to his suit. She shook her head and quickly jumped back up in a battle stance. The boy had left her and was rapidly picking them up, placing the reds on his suit. The girl picked up whatever orbs were nearby her and then went straight for him while he was picking up the rest. With a swift motion, she knocks him down, knocking off a lot of blues and reds. The hit was hard, he was feeling a little dazed. But it wasn't over yet. Staggering in his attempt to get up, he saw that she was now the one distracted in picking up the orbs. He was beginning to like this game because, it was about how quickly you could react while there was more than one task given to you. This was turning out to be a great game. Then he shook his head, he was in the middle of a match. He shouldn't get distracted. So up he rose, picking up whatever he could get and getting back into the game.
She was picking up all the orbs she could, then felt movement behind her. She reflexively brought up her bat to a block upwards, but the boy predicted this and instead swept her feet, also loosening the orbs on the bottom of the suit. He picked some up and prepared to take another blow, until, "TIME! GAME, SET, MATCH!" [Insert Name Here] called out.
The two were shocked, the match surprisingly felt longer than three minutes. "This was fun," they both thought simultaneously.
The two walked back to Sora and he took their suits one at a time, taking off the balls and counting them one by one. [Insert Name Here] went around the area they fought and picked up whatever balls were laying on the floor. In total, there were twenty balls on the floor, thirteen red and seven blue. Not bad for their first match of Struggle. Sora meanwhile, with Chirithy's help, was determining how many balls there were on each suit. He secretly didn't want to admit counting gave him trouble, so Chirithy quietly told him the numbers in the end.
"Okay, I got the numbers! Your suits were nearly even, but only off by a few numbers each." Both of them looked excitedly at him as he continued, "One suit had 42 while the other had 38. So the suit that had more was…" All the Chirithy and [Insert Name Here] preformed a little drumroll sound, "The blue suit! Way to go!"
The boy was stunned a bit. He won? He won! He couldn't believe it, he won against her! Her ninety-nine streak win was broken by him! Oh wait, she's was not going to be happy. He turns to his friend who was slumped down on the ground. Cautiously he approached her, "Umm… hey uh…"
She bursts out into laughter startling him as well as the others. It wasn't the laughter that one does when they're trying to release their sadness, but rather it was filled with genuine enjoyment. "Boy that was amazing! Kind of want to do this again!" She turns to her friend and offers her hand, "Great game! You won fair and square!"
The boy was still stunned a bit, before he offered his hand and pulled her up off the ground. "But what about your hundred winning streak?"
"Well, it's kind of disappointing I lost, but who cares now. Ninety-nine wins is still a braggable number to rub in that boy's face!" The boy looked a little relieved before she continued, "Besides, I can always just start over again!"
The boy's eye twitched, of course. She wasn't giving up this challenge so easily. Oh well, he had fun and she did too. Hopefully she would space out these challenges more and they'd get to hang out and do other things together again.
"Hey Sora," the girl asked as he looked at her, "you said you had the Moogles create this gear for you?"
"Yeah, they made it really nice too. Why?"
"Think I could get a pair? Definitely useful for whenever I restart my challenge!"
"Sure, I can ask them, let's set up a time for you both to meet up and we'll ask the together."
"Perfect! Thanks Sora!" She gleefully squealed and dismissed the foam bat.
"Hey! Wait, that's the bat from the suit." Sora called out.
"Oh, sorry! I forgot!" She summoned it back and handed it to him.
This made [Insert Name Here] think, "How did you put away the bats like that? I thought you could only do that with Keyblades?"
The girl tilted her head, "Don't you know you can store other items in the magical space other than the Keyblade? That's how I can carry my bats around and freely challenge anyone to a duel."
"Ohh, I didn't know that!" [Insert Name Here] was surprised. She always thought this space was exclusive.
"Well, you can. Go on and give it a try. Think of it like dismissing the Keyblade." Sora gave her the bat and she tried, thinking that it needed to be put away in that special place. After a few seconds, it worked. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"See? Easier than carrying your weapons in a bag everywhere. Though I only know it works with most weapons, I have to test and see if it will work with that gear too. It would make challenges a lot more easier if I can also summon it too like that."
"Oh wow! I hope it works!" Both girls smiled at each other and soon everyone was back on the blanket enjoying their day. They ate their meals and had some special desserts that [Insert Name Here] made, a dark chocolate brownie with white chocolate chips. They liked it and said it was a nice combination of sugary and bitter tasting chocolate. After they enjoyed lunch, they all worked together to clean up and put away the stuff in the basket. Sora and the two then planned when to meet at The Moogles crafting store and they all said see you soon.
It wasn't until after they left that someone else approached Sora and [Insert Name Here]. That person was one of the girls who was working at the New Wielder's party during the festival.
"Hey you two! I have been waiting for awhile to approach you." She was loud and her voice sounded a bit harsh. Were they going to be in trouble?
"Hi, is everything okay?" Sora asked, looking curiously at the girl who was staring seriously at him.
"That game. I passed by earlier and stayed to watch a bit before I had to go. I've never seen anything like it. What's it called?" Her eyes lit up but her lips barely curled into a smile.
"Oh that? It's called Struggle! It's a game from my friends' hometown. I thought it would be a fun challenge with my friends here." Sora answered, smiling as he talked about it.
"I see. Well, would you be willing to do me a favor?"
"A favor?"
"The festival and activities committee has been looking to host new recreational activities for the upcoming events. With your permission, would you allow us to use this game in future celebrations?"
"Huh?" Sora was a bit lost.
"I think she means, they want to play too on the next festival or holiday."
"Ohh! Sure!" His smile was wider and more toothier than ever, genuinely happy that someone took an interest in the game.
"Perfect! I'll have to discuss this with the committee and then we'll get back to you. For now, let's exchange addresses and I'll send you a letter when we should meet up about this."
So exchange they did, Sora was more than happy to do this. The future of Daybreak Town was going to be little more fun with the introduction of Struggle. The girl said goodbye and the two also went their way to work together on an evening lux collecting mission. It was a fun day, now they were hoping to have just as exciting a night.
TBC
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As I said in other chapters, I won't exactly be describing or naming most of the Original Characters. They are just meant to be people that pass through Sora's life and we'll never really see them again. Maybe they come back for a chapter more or two, but overall, they won't be given much detail. So that leaves you open to imagine whoever you want to imagine!
Why did I write this? Well, it's just cause this idea has been in my head for a while. A Struggle match in Daybreak Town. That was the whole of the idea and I just ran with it. As for the time this takes place, it's a month or more later on an unusually warm autumn or winter day.
Well, that's all for now! Hope you enjoyed Sora's Daybreak. If you have any ideas, suggestions, questions, or any comments for this story, feel free to let me know. Thanks again for reading! See you again next time! :D