I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.
Arrival
"FIRE! FIRE!"
Tyler's eyes opened, seeing the walls of the tent glowing orange. He swore, scrambling out of his sleeping bag just as Lightning and Fang did the same. Then, they all darted out of their tent, looking around. There were fireflies flooding the area, and everything they touched lit up in flames, as did their tent a moment later.
"Blizzaga!" Lightning and Fang both shouted, several of the tents, and hundreds of the fireflies, were suddenly encased in ice.
Then, the ice shattered and the fireflies with it, the fire itself having disappeared. However, as soon as they finished, both fell to their knees, breathing hard. Tyler looked around as people scrambled for their vehicles. He grabbed Lightning and Fang's arms, lifting them back to their feet and the three of them sprinted to Tyler's, piling in and starting it up. Tyler gunned it, following the drill. However, just as they got halfway, the oil truck was swarmed by fireflies and exploded, blasting the back of the bridge apart, dropping the back of it, the drill skidding backward and forcing the rest back down the bridge.
"Shit!" Tyler swore.
Finally, they all crashed down at the top of a hole, only for the drill to push them in. A moment later, they were in the pitch dark, the commander striking a match to help him see.
"Alright, who's not dead? Sound off!" the commander said.
Several people groaned, Tyler hearing Fang's voice with it, but not Lightning's.
"Lightning?" Tyler asked.
"I'm here," Lightning said from beside him, Tyler realizing for the first time that he wasn't lying on the ground.
He could feel something soft yet firm underneath him. He quickly pushed himself up, lifting himself up the seat a bit and holding himself there by pushing against the dash with his feet. He could hear Cookie talking from somewhere in the darkness, but he wasn't paying attention. Finally, a headlight clicked on off to one side, light illuminating the area. He looked down, seeing Lightning lying against the ground, a gash in her side and both legs broken forward at the knee. She smiled slightly at his expression.
"Guess the landing wasn't quite as gentle as the last one," Lightning said.
"Lightning!" Tyler breathed, hearing movement above himself and looking up.
"Oh shit, Light!" Fang gasped.
She had blood running down the side of her head and road rash on her right shoulder, but she was okay.
"Lift her up here!" Fang said.
"Don't," Lightning said. "My back's shredded. I can feel it. The ground is keeping the bleeding to a minimum."
"What do we do?" Tyler asked.
"We can't do anything," Fang said. "All of our potions are back on the ship."
"Potions?" Tyler blinked. "You have magic potions?"
"You don't?" Fang blinked.
"We don't have time for this!" Tyler groaned. "We have to save Lightning! Can't you heal her like she does us?"
"I never learned the spell," Fang said. "I'm a fighter, not a healer."
"I can't use any spells," Tyler said.
"Hey you!" the blonde's voice shouted. "What are you doing over there?"
"Shit," Fang sighed. "I'll go deal with her."
She turned, dropping off of the truck and Tyler turned back to Lightning, swallowing hard. She simply smiled.
"It's alright," Lightning smiled.
"No," Tyler said. "I...I don't want to lose any more friends. I can't. I..." He struggled to find anything to say when suddenly his keyblade appeared in his hands, green light glowing from the tip. "What-"
He was cut off by the light flashing and vanishing, Lightning's body glowing green. She gasped harshly, eyes widening.
"Lightning?" Tyler asked.
"Lift me up, quickly!" Lightning said.
Tyler let the keyblade fade and reached down, taking her hand and wincing in sympathy before yanking her upward. For a moment, her legs were folded the rest of the way forward, Lightning screaming in agony, before twisting her lower body just as her legs snapped back down, barely having enough room. Once they were hanging normally, the green light condensed into her body making her shine green for a moment. Then, the light faded and she sighed, bending and straightening her legs.
"You...you healed me," Lightning breathed, looking up at him and smiling. "Thank you!"
"How did I..." Tyler trailed off before shaking his head, pulling Lightning up.
Once she was level with him, she stopped herself, hugging him for a moment before reaching up to the other door and lifting herself out, Tyler keeping his eyes down so he didn't see up her skirt. Once she was out, she dropped to the ground outside and he followed suit, getting outside just as the commander reached the truck.
"What was that scream about?" the commander asked.
"Uh..." Tyler glanced at Lightning.
"I thought I saw a bat," Lightning lied.
"A bat?" the commander asked. "I thought you were supposed to be a fighter."
"Everyone's got something they're afraid of," Lightning said. "And I might just be adding fireflies to that."
"Can't blame you there," the commander grumbled. "Alright. Help me roll this truck back onto its wheels."
Lightning and Tyler nodded, they, and several others, lifting the truck back onto its wheels.
"So, what do we do now?" Tyler asked.
"We've got to find Thatch," the commander said.
"Milo?" Lightning asked. "Which way do we look first?"
The commander shrugged, walking away to talk to the others while Fang walked back to Lightning and Tyler.
"Now what?" Tyler asked.
"There's got to be a tunnel here somewhere," Fang said. "If we find that, we probably find Milo, and whoever took him."
"Could it be the heartless?" Tyler asked.
"It's possible," Lightning nodded.
"We should get looking," Fang said.
The others nodded and they turned, walking to one wall of the cavern then following it around.
Tyler stared at the scene in awe. A perfectly round flat area with water endlessly flowing off of it, the center seeming to glow and with some form of landmass, or possibly a city, in the center, though he couldn't quite make it out. All around the raised area were mountains covered in lush green grass ,with a river of lava below the cliff they were currently standing on. Off to the left, some half-mile or so away, a rope bridge reached out to the raised section, with a sort of walkway leading to the place in the center of the water.
"It's...amazing," Tyler breathed, glancing to the side at Milo, Lightning and Fang, then the other way at everyone else, who had caught up about thirty seconds after they all arrived, they having chased Milo, who seemed to be chasing someone else.
Suddenly, Tyler heard movement behind them and turned, watching as half a dozen people dropped from above wearing masks almost as tall as he was with what looked like white fir around the edges and covering all but their arms, each holding a spear with the end of it shaped like a "Z". Aside from the masks, they had on blue or white clothing, though it looked more like something Tyler saw traditional Native Americans wearing, except a different color.
The one in front, a female, began to speak in a language Tyler didn't recognize, and Milo stepped forward, taking a moment to say something in the same language, the girl removing her mask to reveal straight, snow-white hair just past her shoulders, a light blue cloth to cover her breasts and as a skirt, and a crystal hanging around her neck. After a moment of such shaky translations, Milo asked in French if she spoke it and she responded that she did, also in French.
"They speak my language!" Mole gasped, darting forward. He beckoned the woman closer and whispered something to her, only for her to punch him in the face, throwing him backward.
"I like her," Fang grinned as the others, all male, began to remove their masks and greet the others using a variety of languages, ranging from Spanish to German.
"How is it they speak all these languages?" the blonde, Helga, asked.
"Their language must be based on some root dialect," Milo said. "Like the Tower of Babel."
"Well maybe English is in there somewhere too," the commander said. "We are explorers from the surface world. We come in Peace."
"Welcome to the city of Atlantis," the woman greeted, gesturing toward the raised section in the center.
"Come, you must speak with my father now!" the woman said, grabbing Milo by the hand and pulling him toward the bridge.
"Squad B, head back to the shaft and salvage what you can," the commander said. "We'll rendezvous in twenty four hours."
The soldiers and crew that had survived up until now all turned and headed back, Milo's group of friends, along with Helga and the commander, followed Tyler, Lightning, and Fang, who followed the Atlanteans and Milo.
Leave a review.