Crash Landing
What happened?
It felt like he was falling or sinking. He wasn't sure. It was hard to think with the pounding in his skull.
Everything hurts.
He looked up through half-lidded eyes to see a bright light. Sunlight, he figured. He managed to command his limbs to drag him to the surface. As he swam up, he realized that his lungs were on fire.
Izuku broke the surface of the water and coughed as he tried to scan his surroundings. The sun was too bright, and the sound of everything overwhelmed him. It all sent his headache to a new level, coupled with the nausea he wanted to pass out right then and there.
I think I'm concussed. That's not good.
He looked around through squinted eyes and saw he was in the middle of some kind of waterfall area. Large streams of water fell from above and into the valley. Large green vines and foliage grew from the high stone walls that caged him in. Thankfully there was some solid land he could see.
Everything in this world was green. It was more of a nature-based world. Probably a jungle, if he had to guess. He would have marveled at it if another spike of pain hadn't torn through his head. He could complain or be in awe later. He just needed to get to some solid ground.
He heard some light splashing as he began to make his way over to some trees.
"W-Wait! Izuku, wait for me!"
He paused and looked around for the source of the voice. He hadn't seen anybody else while looking around. Or did he just not spot them?
"Down here!"
He glanced down to see Jiminy using his umbrella as a boat and paddling toward him. So he wasn't all alone; from the looks of it, Jiminy was uninjured. That was good. It was good that he was around one unharmed person. Which meant he would be more coherent than Izuku was.
Izuku wordlessly held out his hand, and the cricket climbed atop it, then up to his shoulder.
"That was quite a fall there. Are you okay, Izuku?"
The teen shook his head and regretted it a moment later. Then he went back to swimming to land or a shallower part of the water. He'd take either at the moment.
He nearly fainted on the spot as soon as the water was shallow enough for him to stand. From there, it was easy to make his way to dry land. Now that he was used to it, the waterfalls were somewhat calming.
"There we go, easy now." Jiminy hopped off his shoulder as Izuku kneeled on the ground. "Are ya hurt anywhere? You said ya didn't feel too good."
"I think I hit my head," he mumbled as he pressed the side of his head that was aching the worst. "I'm pretty sure I'm concussed and…yeah. Yeah, I got hit." He pulled his hand away from his head and saw a red smear.
It's probably not too bad, the wound. Head wounds bleed. Don't panic.
"Oh! Oh, Izuku, you're hurt!"
"I'm okay." He muttered. "I'm okay. I think that's the worst of it." He leaned against a tree trunk. The moss that grew on it was surprisingly soft. "I need to heal myself before I do anything else. I can't do anything like this."
"Do you think you can manage that?"
"Yeah, I just need a…" He paused when he reached for his bag. It wasn't there. "Oh."
"I didn't see your bag fall with us."
"Fall?"
Jiminy gave him a look of concern. "You don't remember that? Oh dear, it really did a number on you, didn't it?"
"Yeah. It's fine. I can just use a Cure spell."
"Are you sure that's wise? What if it misfires?"
"I don't think it will. Even if it's not effective, some healing is better than nothing."
Izuku sighed and sat up. He held out his hands and tried to focus through the thrumming pain. He pulled at his magic and channeled it into healing. Soft, light petals fell over his form. He groaned as the headache grew worse until the pain and thrumming began to ease.
When he couldn't hold it anymore, he stopped the spell and used the tree to support his weight. It took a moment for everything to come back to him. The ache wasn't as severe anymore, and everything was dialed down to normal levels. The waterfalls were bearable, the sunlight no longer blinded him, and, more importantly, his mind was much clearer.
"Izuku? How are you doing?"
"Better, not quite healed all the way. But better."
He held a hand for Jiminy to hop on before standing up. The cricket climbed up to his shoulder as he stretched out his limbs.
"Everything is still a little fuzzy, but I'm hoping that'll go away soon enough." He held out a hand and summoned Indomitable Spirit.
Good, still responsive with no delay.
Jiminy gave him a questioning look as he made his weapon disappear before cycling through small spells. He conjured small wisps of each spell he could before canceling them. He couldn't use too much, he already used quite a bit of magic healing himself.
"What are ya doing there?"
"Just testing a few things, but it looks like I'm alright. If we were to run into some Heartless, I like our chances. Even though I healed myself, I still hit my head pretty hard, so I need to make sure there's no delay between my intention to cast magic and it actually going through."
"Just a little once over on yourself. I gotcha."
"Yeah." He rubbed his eyes and looked around. "I don't know where the others are, and I'm not even sure how we got here. If I ended up over here, does that mean they landed somewhere nearby?"
"Izuku, they didn't land anywhere near here. In fact, I don't think they landed at all. I think it's more likely the Gummi Ship crashed! I hope everyone is alright, but as far as I know, you're the only one that fell."
Izuku stopped and glanced at the cricket. "How exactly did I fall? Did the Gummi Ship get attacked or…"
"Oh, dear. Izuku, what's the last thing you remember?"
"Uh, clearly? I remember saying bye to Eri and the others, then getting on the Gummi Ship. Everything after that is kinda blank."
"That's quite a big blank."
"I guess?" Izuku ducked under some branches and made his way over tree roots. There was no set path for him to follow, which made getting lost easier. His best bet was probably just picking a direction and sticking to it.
Jiminy sighed and pulled out his journal. "Things got pretty heated between Sora and Donald. You and Goofy tried to keep them from arguing. And then it escalated."
"And that seemed to go over well." Izuku sighed. "Am I really the only one that fell? You didn't see anyone else?"
"Nope."
"Did you at least see which way the ship was heading while we fell?"
The cricket sighed and took off his hat. "Unfortunately, I didn't. But you may run into them at some point. You have to."
"Yeah." He huffed as he swatted away a few low-hanging vines and leaves. He stopped, then looked up. "Well, maybe I can find them faster."
"How so?"
Izuku grabbed a vine and walked over to one of the trees nearby. He looked around the tree and felt around it. It had no give. It was solid and grounded. He gave a hard tug to the vine, and it didn't snap.
"We can get a higher vantage point."
"Are you sure you should do that? You just finished healing yourself, and even then, you couldn't do it all the way. Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"It's going to have to be. We don't have a lot of time just to wander around aimlessly." He grunted as he wrapped some of the vine around his hand, so he had a better grip. He huffed as he tugged it again, then began to try and climb.
"Please be careful," Jiminy warned.
"I'll be okay." He assured him. He tried to listen to that assurance himself. He had only begun to climb, and he could feel his arms shaking. It was fine. He just had to get to one of the upper branches and try to look out from there. Then he could get back down to solid ground and make his way out of there. He could already see the branch he was planning on perching on.
Izuku took a shaky breath and paused. A short wave of dizziness struck him, and he shut his eyes to keep the world from spinning.
I'm not completely healed. Did I go too fast? But I didn't think I'd deal with any symptoms this bad…I should be healed enough. It should be enough.
"Izuku."
"I-I'm okay. Just a little dizzy."
"Izuku, you shouldn't be using your magic!"
"Huh?" He looked at his hands and gasped as fire danced around his fingers. He hurriedly pulled his magic back and sighed. "Oh, that isn't good."
"No, it isn't. Izuku maybe you oughta get yourself back down there. We can figure out another way to get out of here and find the others. But there's no reason to be putting yourself in danger when there are other solutions."
He took a shaky sigh, then nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Okay, we can figure out another way."
He was being reckless. He needed to think things out better. He couldn't just do something on a whim and hope for the best. He was really lucky Jiminy had fallen with him. At least someone could make him think over other options.
They heard a snapping sound as he began to make his way down. Izuku paused his descent, looked up to where he had been a moment ago, and saw the vine beginning to tear where his fire had been.
"Oh-"
The vine snapped, and they were back in free fall. They both yelled in surprise, and Izuku tried to conjure up an Aero spell to slow the fall. Just before he could even try, he hit something, and the wind was knocked out of him.
Izuku wheezed as he tried to catch his breath and looked at what he had hit. Or rather, what caught him.
He found himself looking at a reddish-brown elephant that peered back at him. It looked almost as confused as Izuku was. He looked down and saw a trunk wrapped around his midsection. He was slowly placed down on the ground, and before he could move the elephant was brushing him off. It was making small noises as if it was muttering to itself. Or scolding him.
"Uh, Jiminy, you see an elephant, too, right?" He whispered. "I didn't somehow hit my head again?"
"No, I see it too."
After a moment the elephant stopped, and the two were stuck looking at each other. Izuku began to move away.
"Uh, thanks for not letting us fall?" He tried. He got no response other than a head tilt. Of course, the elephant couldn't understand him. "Um, well, I guess we'll be leaving now." He gave a small wave and began to walk away.
Izuku stepped over a tree root and walked as fast as he could. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was thankful for it.
"Do you think we should ask him for directions?" Jiminy asked.
"I don't think that'll be much help unless you speak elephant, and none of us knew about that."
"I'm afraid I don't."
"Yeah. So maybe-" Izuku paused as he felt something rest on his head. He looked behind and saw the elephant was back. It gently prodded at him until he turned back to the elephant.
"Uh…yes?"
"I told you to ask for directions. Maybe this fella can help!"
"I…" He stopped. He was about to argue that there was no telling if the elephant would understand him or not. But they were in another world. Not every world followed the same rules, so this one probably had a few bends in it.
"Okay," he looked up. "Can you help us find our friends? We got separated, and I don't know where they are. We all got kinda lost from each other."
The elephant seemed to raise an eyebrow, then made a trumpeting sound and turned away. He began to walk away, leaving the other two confused.
"I…guess he can't." Izuku sighed. "It was worth a shot so-"
The elephant made another noise and made him stop. He looked back and saw the elephant looking back at him. It was gesturing around and making more noises.
"Oh. you can help us. Okay, so I'll follow you."
Izuku followed after, and the elephant continued onwards.
"So, I guess you can understand me," Izuku muttered. "Thank you, by the way."
-HoL-
"Wake up…Sora, wake up!"
He gasped as he opened his eyes. He looked around frantically as he dragged air into his lungs. He felt like the wind had got knocked out of him. Once he caught his breath, he rolled onto his side and slowly got up.
"Ugh, everything hurts."
He slowly got to his feet, and when he was sure he wouldn't fall, he began to look over himself. He found a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing seemed to be broken. He looked to where he landed, then up at the hole in the ceiling.
"I probably didn't fall too far if I'm not that banged up. That's good, but…" he stopped when he saw a yellow bag on the ground. "No. No, no, no, no." He hurried over and grabbed the bag. He looked through it and saw everything inside was still intact. He looked around for any trace of his friend.
"Izuku? Izuku!" He shouted. "Come on, you gotta be around here somewhere…"
He walked around the treehouse and stumbled over the occasional loose floorboard.
There was no sign of him in there, but he still had to be nearby. His backpack was there, and Sora was pretty sure he had seen it fall with him. He thinks…maybe…it all happened so fast.
He shook his head and slung the bag over his shoulder.
He was worried about Izuku.
This wouldn't have happened if Donald hadn't been such a jerk…
He looked around again and raised his voice. "Izuku? Goofy? Donald? Come on, one of you guys gotta be around here somewhere."
He heard a floorboard from above creak as he walked around the treehouse. He paused as a floorboard creaked from above, and he looked up in hopes of seeing one of the others. Instead, he saw a yellow and black blur leap toward him.
He gasped and stumbled back and summoned his Keyblade in time to block the swipe of sharp claws that came his way. The force was enough to make him slam into a wall. He groaned and then scrambled out of the way to avoid its teeth and claws.
Sora readied himself and stepped to the side as the animal watched him. He had to keep his eyes on it and not get distracted. If he did, then that was it. Lights out.
As soon as the leopard moved, so did Sora. He brought up his weapon and blocked the strike; the leopard recoiled and hissed at him before furiously swiping at him again. Sora managed to block or dodge most of them, then retaliated.
He didn't necessarily like the thought of hitting it, but he'd rather not get clawed to death.
He flinched at the noise as he smacked the leopard with the Keyblade. Once, twice, thrice, before it regained its composure and charged at him again. He yelped and narrowly dodged another flurry of teeth and claws.
It gave him no room to breathe or even think. He couldn't come up with a plan to get it off his back.
When it got too close, Sora brought up his Keyblade to block, but the force of the strike was enough to knock the weapon out of his hands. Before he could make a grab at it, the leopard struck again.
He brought an arm up to protect himself and shouted as claws raked over his forearm. He yelled in pain and looked down to see four long gashes running down his arm. He hissed in pain but forced himself to ignore it as his Keyblade reappeared in his hand.
The leopard got too close again, and Sora swung at it. A harsh crack made it stumble back and glare at him. He glared right back.
I need to get this thing off my back. But if I run, it'll chase and catch me.
He looked down to see yellow energy crackling along his blade. He gasped and then looked back at the leopard and braced himself. The beast circled around him and growled as it watched him. Sora never let it see his back. As soon as he couldn't see it, it was over for him.
He grit his teeth as the energy continued to spark and build in power.
The leopard stopped in front of him and roared as it leaped toward him. When it was close enough, Sora slammed his Keyblade on the ground, and electric energy ran wild. The leopard roared again before falling to the ground in a limp pile.
He stared at it for a moment before wheezing in relief.
"Oh, that was close. Way too close, now to-" He flinched as his arm throbbed in pain and reminded him of the bleeding gashes. "Right. Right." He backed away from the leopard and pulled Izuku's bag off his shoulder to look through it.
He was so glad Izuku restocked before they left. He was going to have to thank him when he saw him again.
Sora pulled out a potion and took out the cork with his teeth. "Uh…drinking or pouring?" He muttered. He was pretty sure Donald said something about potions having more effect on something like burns and stuff when poured on them.
He stopped.
"Jerk…" He muttered to himself and poured the potion onto the gashes. He hissed in pain as the potion stung his wounds. He stopped after his arm was consumed by a burning sensation. He fidgeted and cringed until the burning feeling died down, and he saw the gashes were now just long shallow scratches.
He sighed and looked over what little was left in the bottle, then downed it. It healed whatever little scrapes and bruises he got from the fall.
"Alright. I'm okay again." He pulled the bag over his shoulder again, then glanced at the still unmoving leopard. He knew the stunning ability he had was effective against Heartless, he hoped it was just as effective on normal things like animals.
He hummed to himself and turned away to leave. Just before he reached the doors, he heard claws scraping against wood and whirled around to see the leopard charging after him again.
Before he could summon his Keyblade again, someone jumped in front of him and held off the leopard.
Sora looked up to see a guy holding the animal back with a spear. The two struggled with each other for a moment before he threw the leopard off him. The man and the beast glared at each other before the cat hissed and sprinted away, then threw itself out the window. Leaving shattered glass and splintered wood scattered nearby.
His heart pounded out of his chest as he stared out the window, then at the random man that appeared. The man slowly turned around and looked over him before speaking.
"Sabor. Danger."
"Huh? Do you mean what attacked me? It has a name?"
The man grunted in response.
"Oh, well, thank you."
"Thank you." The man repeated his words.
Sora looked around and hummed to himself. If this guy came to save him, he must be a world resident. Which meant he could help!
"Anyway, what is this place?"
"This place, this place?" He echoed Sora's words.
"Uhhh, okay? Do you know where my friends are? We got separated, have you seen them?"
The man gave him a puzzled look.
Sora hummed, then put his hands to his chest. "Friends…" He stretched the word out slowly in hopes he'd understand.
The man mimicked his gesture. "Friends."
He beamed. "Yeah, that's right, friends! There are three of them. The loud one is Don-" He stopped, then looked down.
"You know what? Nevermind. I'm looking for my friends Riku, Kairi…and Izuku."
The man grunted. "Look for Riku, friends?"
"Right!"
While the man seemed to ponder over his words, Sora saw a shimmer just behind him. He leaned over to see a familiar figure looking back at him.
Kairi?
"Kairi, friends?"
"Uhh, right…" He glanced back at the man before looking at Kairi again. She gave a small wave before walking off.
"Friends, here."
That snapped Sora back to focus. "Wait, are they really?"
The man let out a weird pattern of grunts and noises.
"Huh?"
The man repeated as if he was supposed to know what that meant.
"Not sure I understand, but show me! Take me to my friends."
The man smiled and gestured to himself. "Tarzan. Tarzan go."
Sora grinned and pointed at himself. "I'm Sora. Tarzan go. Sora go go."
The man nodded, leading him out of the building and onto a balcony. Sora gasped as he walked out and was met with the canopy of a lush, green jungle. They were above it all, probably at the highest point if he had to guess.
He climbed up onto the railing and looked around. He couldn't spot anything noticeable. It was all just trees, trees, and more trees. If the Gummi Ship crashed he couldn't even see it. Which meant it was either far away or hidden by the trees.
"Well, I guess it's good that I've got you to help me out. I think I'd probably get lost here."
The man watched him. "Lost here?"
"Uh, yeah. Anyway," he gestured forward. "Lead the way."
Tarzan seemed to understand and leaped off the balcony and onto the net below, then looked up for him to follow.
Sora looked down at the net and hopped off the railing. He tried to keep his balance as he landed but failed. He huffed then slowly got to his feet and followed after Tarzan.
Somehow the man had no issue making his way across the net and leaping off into the thicket.
"Hey, wait a second!" He scrambled to follow after and stopped at the edge. He peered down below and saw Tarzan waiting for him on a branch. Sora took a moment before taking a leap and managing to land beside him.
It looked like it would be hard to get around, but at least he had a guide. Even then, it didn't matter how difficult going around would be. Riku and Kairi were here! He would be able to see his friends again.
Any amount of difficulty was worth that!
Before Tarzan could lead him further down, a loud piercing noise startled them. Sora jumped and looked around while his new companion seemed unfazed. He narrowed his eyes and climbed to a higher branch to peek out just above the canopy.
"Clayton."
"Who?"
Tarzan looked at Sora, then mimicked the sound, making him cover his ears.
"Clayton."
"That's who made the noise? Is he uh, a friend of yours?"
"..." Tarzan looked away and climbed down. He motioned for Sora to follow and began to slide down the tree.
-HoL-
"Gawrsh, that was a rough landin'…." Goofy looked around as he peeked out of the Gummi Ship. They had crashed into what seemed like a bamboo forest. The crash carved out a large area of snapped bamboo and turned up dirt. Thankfully the ship itself didn't look damaged.
Donald shouted as he shoved past Goofy and marched out of the Gummi Ship. He turned around to look at their vessel.
"That reckless, stubborn little…." He paused before letting out a series of squawks and stamped his foot. "He doesn't listen. He never listens! He decided to act brat when he couldn't get his way, and now look what happened!"
"Donald."
"He crashed the ship all because I didn't want to stop here! He should know better than to yank the controls from someone! That boy doesn't know how to listen, and now we're stuck here, and he's gotten all of us lost!"
"I know yer upset Donald, but we should go out and find Sora and Izuku. They could be hurt. They both fell out of the ship, and if they ain't here, they gotta be somewhere."
Donald shouted as he pulled out his staff and pointed at the ship. "Oh, don't even get me started on Izuku! You would think he'd be responsible enough to try and stop Sora. At least he can be the mature one, but what did he do?"
"He was tryin' to help, Donald."
The duck huffed as he cast a spell to hide the Gummi Ship and the damaged forest. They didn't need whatever may be living in this world to make a mess of their ship. Once it was hidden, he marched through the thicket and found a clearing.
"He's usually the responsible one. Usually, then again, that boy can be just as reckless. There was no point in even trying to stop by here. There is no way the King would even think of visiting this backwater place! There's nothing here!"
Goofy sighed and walked beside him. There wasn't much he could do until Donald calmed down. He wasn't going to listen until he had everything out of his system.
Donald continued to pace back and forth through the clearing, and Goofy sat down on a rock and let Donald get it all out.
"Who does he think he is? Grabbing the controls and trying to pilot the ship like he knows how to, or even has the right to! I swear, that boy is nothing but trouble. Well, you know what? Fine! If he wanted to come here so bad, then he can stay here! We can just take Izuku and go, we only need one key anyway, and at least he listens."
"Now Donald, you don't mean that."
"I do! Sora has been a pain in the neck this entire time, and if he wants to act like a child, then I'll treat him like one, and he can face the consequences of his actions!"
Goofy frowned. "I'm sure bein' lost in this world, away from the others, is enough Donald. He's probably all alone out there with no idea where we are. That's probably scary enough."
"Do you think it'll be enough to keep him from doing that again? I doubt it!"
"He was upset because you weren't willin' to listen. What Sora did wasn't right, but you ain't necessarily right either."
Donald squawked as he turned to look at Goofy. "What? What is that supposed to mean? I was doing my job and flying the ship. You're not supposed to take the controls from someone. That's just dangerous!"
He let the magician rant and rave until he calmed down enough to stomp over. He was quiet as the duck sat down beside him and threw the staff down.
The two sat in silence for a while. Donald tapped his fingers against the rock while Goofy stared out into the thicket. There were two clear ways to go from where they were, two paths that went in opposite directions.
Sora and Izuku could be in either direction, and they could only hope they were okay.
Goofy sighed as he looked down at Donald. "Are ya feelin' better?"
"I'm still mad at him."
"That's okay." He shifted to face him somewhat. "So, as I was sayin'-Donald, ya weren't totally in the right either back there."
"Oh, not this again." Donald glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean? I was doing my job, and it was Sora's fault for crashing the ship! Not to mention it's his fault that Izuku fell out."
He sighed. "We'll get to Sora in a minute, but you weren't bein' very nice back there. Sora just wanted to take a look around here. Maybe he would have some luck in finding his friends."
"We don't have the time to just stop by every world and look around. We're on a time limit and need to find the King! And there's no way Mickey would have stopped in this place!"
"How do you know that, Donald?" Goofy raised an eyebrow. "We've been to way worse places, and I don't think Mick would mind a place like this too much."
"There's nothing of substance here. There's no reason to stop!"
"Well, sure there is. Mick said he was gonna find out what's causin' all the worlds to disappear! Maybe he mighta found somethin' here."
"Doubtful."
The knight sighed. "Even so, it wouldn't have hurt to just land here for a little bit and check everythin' out. Maybe one of Sora or Izuku's friends are here. It would be irresponsible to just leave 'em here 'cause ya didn't wanna check."
"Oh what do you know, you big palooka." Donald turned away from him and glared at the bamboo.
Goofy shook his head but continued. He knew Donald was upset. He wasn't done with his feelings yet, so he was going to hold onto them for a while. But it didn't give him an excuse to say certain things.
"Oh, I think I know plenty. I know you're upset with Sora, but Sora is also upset with you. He just wanted to stop by and look around this world in hopes of finding his friends. And then you wouldn't give it a chance. I know he grabbed the controls when he shouldn't have, and I know you two fought over it. I know Izuku tried to help but got knocked aside before fallin' out."
"It mostly sounds like it's Sora's fault."
"What Sora did wasn't right, but Donald ya have to remember, he is a kid."
"That doesn't give him an excuse to act like a brat."
"And that don't mean you get to be so mean to him." Goofy frowned.
Donald opened his mouth, then shut it when he saw the look Goofy gave him.
"Now I know you probably aren't gonna like what I say, but ya gotta let me say it. Do ya remember when Della went missin'?"
"This is not the same as that!"
"Oh, but it almost is. Donald, he lost his friends and doesn't know where they are. Ya lost Della and had no idea where she went. I still remember clear as day you went lookin' through every world around, combin' through every nook and cranny until ya had to stop and take care of the boys. Sora would do the same if he could, Izuku too. They both lost their friends, and they want 'em back, Donald. Now I know you're worried about Mick, but ya gotta remember he's the King for a reason. He can handle himself."
Donald glared at him but sighed.
"And ya know, speakin' about the boys, wouldn't you be upset if someone was treatin' them the way you're treating Sora and Izuku?"
He looked up before groaning. "I would be upset."
"And how do ya think Mr. Yagi is gonna feel?"
"...Very upset." He cringed.
Goofy watched Donald deflate for a moment. "I'm still mad at him."
"Ya can be mad at him and not be mean about it."
"I can try."
"Or you can do it."
"Aarrgghh, why does a palooka like you have to be the voice of reason!?"
Goofy laughed. "It's my job."
"Your job, my tail." Donald huffed. "Fine. I guess we should get moving. We may as well try to find the boys."
He reached for his staff and felt something soft instead.
"What the…" He looked down to see a gorilla looking back at him, its hand inches away from his magic staff.
The two screamed in each other's faces, and Donald grabbed his staff before hopping off the rock. "What's the big idea! Get out of here!"
The gorilla scrambled to get away and nearly tripped over in its rush. It dropped something as it stumbled and then hurried down one of the paths.
Donald huffed as he saw it disappear and was about to turn away. "Anyway-"
"Hold on Donald, look at that." Goofy pointed behind him.
Donald turned around and froze. "Is that a…"
"I think so!"
Goofy got up and went over to the Gummi block and looked at it. "How did somethin' like this end up here?"
Donald was quiet for a moment. "...Maybe it was the King."
"Ya really think so?"
"Why else would it be here?"
Donald went up to Goofy and looked at the block. He glared at it for a moment before huffing. "Well, we may as well find the boys. Let's get going."
Goofy nodded and pocketed the block.
Before they could discuss which path to take, a rustling noise pulled at their attention. They looked up and held up their weapons, preparing for the worst.
The rustling grew closer, but instead of a Heartless or some wild creature- a man stepped into the clearing.
-.-
Sora shouted as he hit a branch with his Keyblade. He had learned quickly that he had to knock any incoming branches away if he didn't want to fall off.
Tarzan had been guiding him through the jungle and led him down a tree to slide down. They had to jump from some branches to other ones, then go further down.
Sora had gotten used to some of the sliding around, it was almost like surfing, just on a tree. He was decent enough at surfing. This was just a land version of it!
Tarzan made it look easy, ducking and leaning from side to side to dodge the incoming branches. Every now and again, he would leap to a different branch using the vines that hung from above.
It was actually kind of fun, swinging from vine to vine to get to another tree. At least he knew Tarzan wouldn't let him fall if he missed a jump.
As Sora ducked and dodged the trees, he couldn't help the occasional glance down at the thicket below. He occasionally saw a few other animals, some small monkeys in the trees, and a couple cool birds.
On one glance down, he thought he saw something. A large animal and something, or maybe someone walking beside it. Sora used his Keyblade to slow himself and eventually stop.
"Tarzan, wait!" Sora shouted. He looked over the edge of the large tree trunk and stared down at the ground below. He gasped as he saw a spot of green moving. It almost blended in with everything from afar.
He continued to stare at it before looking around. Tarzan had stopped and was staring at him from further down the trunk.
"I think I found one of my friends," he smiled. He looked down and took a deep breath. "Izuku!" He shouted.
He saw the moving shape stop, then it looked around before looking up. Even the large animal beside him stopped.
Sora grinned and nodded at Tarzan. "He's down there!" He then jumped off the trunk without a second thought. He grasped onto one of the vines and began to slide down. When that vine had no more length, he scrambled to grab onto another one.
A laugh escaped him as he went down, happy to see his friend was okay.
When he was almost down, the vine he was holding snapped, and he shouted as he began to fall. He reached for another vine and couldn't grab onto it. He heard someone below him shout, and then someone grabbed the back of his jacket.
He wheezed as his fall was stopped, and he looked down to see he was a few feet from the ground.
"Sora?"
He looked up and beamed as he saw Izuku. He had taken off his jacket and tied it around his waist. It wasn't hard to see why, he looked pretty damp. His usual fluffy hair was still weighed down.
"Izuku!" He was slowly lowered down. He nodded his thanks to Tarzan and rushed over to the other teen. He ran into him with a hug. "You're okay! Oh man, am I glad to see you!"
Izuku let out an 'oof' as Sora barreled into him but stayed on his feet. "I-It's good to see you too. I'm glad you're alright."
After a moment he stepped away and looked over Izuku. "You're not hurt, are you?"
Izuku held a hand to his head, "No, I was, but I'm okay now."
"He's mostly okay." Jiminy chimed in.
"Jiminy!" Sora smiled. "You're okay too. I'm glad."
"Mhm." Jiminy nodded. "You know, what you and Donald did back on the Gummi Ship was very dangerous."
"I know. But Donald was being such a jerk!"
"I can understand you were frustrated, but it wasn't very-"
"Uh, Sora? Who is that supposed to be?"
Sora looked at him, then glanced behind to see Tarzan standing behind him and talking to the elephant.
"Oh, that's Tarzan. He found me and helped me out. Get this, he said that he knows where Riku and Kairi are!"
"Wait, really?" Izuku asked. "Is there any chance he knows where my Master is? And Uraraka?"
"I didn't really ask. But maybe you can ask him yourself. Also, were you walking with an elephant?"
"Yeah."
"How'd that happen?"
"Uh…well, long story short, I almost fell out of a tree, and the elephant caught me."
"Tantor."
They both looked over at Tarzan.
"Huh?"
The man smiled and gestured to the elephant. "Tantor."
"Oh…he has a name?"
He nodded.
"Ok, Tantor. That's good to know, thank you."
Sora looked at Tarzan and pointed at his friend. "Izuku," then gestured to Tarzan. "Tarzan."
"Izuku, friend."
"Yup!"
The mentioned teen looked confused and glanced at Sora. "So, he found you?"
"Yeah. I don't think he speaks English, though…" Sora said. "But apparently, he talks to animals. Which is pretty cool."
Izuku hummed before shaking his head. "Anyway, have you seen Donald and Goofy? If we found each other, those two can't be too far."
Sora knew his face fell by the look Izuku gave him. "No, I haven't seen them. But who needs them, we can find our friends without them."
"Sora, they're literally our ride. We can't really do much without their help. Without them, we're stuck in this world."
"...I mean, we could always try to take the ship on our own."
"Now, Sora." Jiminy hopped from Izuku's shoulder to Sora's. "I know you're upset, but I know you don't mean that. You and Donald got into a little spat, but that's no reason to even have the thought of doing that cross your mind."
"I'm pretty sure Donald would leave us behind if he had the chance."
"I don't think he'd do that," Izuku said. "I mean, he and Goofy kinda need us to help them. They can't really do much on their own, and we can't do much without them either."
Sora frowned and looked away. "Doesn't mean that Donald gets to be so mean to us. He could have at least heard us out. He was just gonna pass by this world. And if we did, then I wouldn't be able to find my friends."
"True, but there had to be a better way." Jiminy pointed out.
Sora shrugged. "Maybe, I dunno. Anyway, we should get going. Tarzan was supposed to show me to the others, and maybe you can ask if he's seen your friends too."
-.-
"Tarzan, where have you been?"
"I went to the old treehouse. Remember how we saw something falling over there?"
The elephant gave him a look before glancing at the other two strangers and the weird bug that sat on one of their shoulders. "And you found someone else? Huh, he almost kind of looks like you."
"Like Jane and the others." He nodded. "It was good I found him, Sabor found him first, and he was hurt."
"Really? But he looks fine to me."
"It was strange, he poured something on the wound, and it healed instantly."
"Really? Wow, that's something. That sounds like it would have been handy in that one time I got a splinter in my foot."
Tarzan shook his head. "What about you? You found that other one, right? They seem to know each other."
"Looks like it. It was a surprise when I found him. I almost thought it was you. Would you believe me if I said he fell from a tree? At first, I thought it was you, and you lost your grip on the vines. It was a good thing I caught him. I was just trying to take a soak, and then there are people falling out of the sky! He looked lost, and I thought, oh maybe he's a friend of the others you're with. But I didn't want to get too close if Kerchak found out-"
"He won't, but I can lead them to Jane and the others if you want to go."
"Can you? I wouldn't mind that one bit. Honestly, I wasn't sure how to tell him that I was just gonna get him close and then leave."
"Maybe you should go find Terk. I'm sure she's gotta be around here somewhere."
"Yeah, I'll do that. But uh, Tarzan, be careful."
"Of course." He made his way to the other humans.
"I mean it, I was sure I saw something lurking around in the trees. I don't think it was any of the gorillas. I think it might have been one of those…things."
"The monsters?"
"Yeah." Tantor looked around nervously. "I haven't seen them lately, but I'm afraid they're lurking around."
"We'll be careful. I promise. I'll see you and Terk back home."
With that, he waved the elephant off. He turned to the other two and gestured for them to follow. They seemed to understand and trailed after him. Thankfully they weren't too far from the camp, so going on foot was fine.
He look over his shoulder as they talked to each other. More strangers, just like him. He wasn't sure where they had come from, he doubted they came with Jane and the others. He would have seen them before then, wouldn't he?
Either way, they were probably safer at the camp than in the jungle.
-.-
Sora hummed as he looked around the scenery, it looked like something he'd see on another island from home. He hadn't gone far, so maybe there was an island like this back on Destiny Islands.
He looked back at Izuku after a moment. He had given him back his backpack before promising that everything was still in there intact. Save for one potion, which he wasn't upset about.
He looked over Izuku, then the jungle around them. He was about to make a joke about Izuku being able to blend in until he looked closer and saw a scrape on the side of his head. Barely hidden by his hairline. It looked mostly healed. He didn't want to imagine how it might have looked when he first fell.
He shuddered when he recalled the image of him pushing Izuku off in his frustration with Donald. He hadn't meant to do it so hard, and he didn't expect the ship to tilt when it did. He cringed at the memory of Izuku trying to grab onto something and failing, then hitting his head against one of the panels on the door.
Then while he and Donald fought some more, one of them pressed a button on the main panel and opened the door…
Sora nearly faltered in his walking before reaching out and grabbing Izuku's sleeve.
"Hey…"
"Yeah?"
He stopped, which prompted the older teen to do so as well.
"I'm…sorry about pushing you in the Gummi Ship. I didn't mean for you to get hurt." He kept his gaze down before hesitantly looking up.
Izuku didn't look upset, thankfully. Instead, he smiled, and for some reason, that made his insides twist.
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. Some things are still a little fuzzy, but I'm sure you didn't mean for that to happen."
"Yeah, I didn't. Still, I'm glad you're okay."
"Same here."
They began to walk again, following Tarzan who had paused to wait for them. Just as they caught up to him, a loud booming noise was heard.
Sora looked around, trying to find the source. He glanced at Tarzan who stared up at the trees.
"Was that Clayton?"
Tarzan grunted and shook his head. "...Not Clayton."
"Oh…then…Izuku?" He stopped when he saw the look on Izuku's face. His eyes darted from side to side, and he turned again and again to find the cause.
"Izuku, is everything okay?"
He went still before shaking his head. "Y-Yeah. Everything is fine, let's go."
-HoL-
"I must say, I wasn't expecting anybody else to come to this island. Are you all fellow researchers? Oh my, are you researching the gorillas as well? Or are you after a different specimen?"
"Uh…"
"Daddy, leave them alone."
A young woman, who introduced herself as Jane, sighed as she walked over with two cups of tea. "I'm sorry, he gets rather excited when he sees someone else interested in our field. Though I can't say, I'm not curious as well."
"Uh…" Goofy looked at Donald.
"We're not supposed to be here," Donald answered. "It was an unexpected stop. We're still trying to track down the boys."
"Oh!" The old man, Professor Porter, looked up at that. "You were traveling with children, and you were separated. Oh dear, I hope they're alright."
The man standing near the tent entrance looked up at that. "It's quite dangerous out there. Perhaps we should go look for them. There may be a chance they've run into some of the gorillas."
"I doubt it." Jane shook her head.
"I agree. It's highly unlikely." Professor Porter agreed. "Considering where you found these fellows, it's likely that the children are nearby somewhere."
"Considering their luck, probably."
"But they're real tough." Goofy nudged Donald. "I'm sure they're okay."
"Still though, the jungle is no place for children." She glanced at the others. "We'd be more than happy to help you look. In fact, I'm sure Tarzan would be a great help in this."
"Who?"
"A friend of ours; he's very familiar with this place." She began to approach the entrance to the tent. "Tarzan is very help-oh!"
Before she could exit, the aforementioned man walked through the tent flap and almost bumped into her. He paused for a moment before smiling. "Jane."
"Hello, Tarzan."
The two teenagers the offworlders had been concerned about were coming in just behind him.
Sora paused to look around and gasped when he saw the others. "Goofy, Donald!"
Sora and Donald went up to each other, but both stopped before reached each other. They glared at each other and then looked away with a huff.
"Please, we just got here." Izuku sighed.
Clayton rolled his eyes as he looked over them. "A circus of clowns suddenly showing up, they'll be no help in hunting the gorillas."
"Mr. Clayton, we're not hunting gorillas; we're studying them."
"That's right!" The professor nodded. "We're just conducting research. Our goal isn't to hurt them."
Izuku eyed the man as he walked out with a huff, muttering something about them being foolish.
Jane shook her head and looked at the others. "Well. the more, the merrier. Feel free to make yourselves at home."
"Thank you." Izuku nodded. "Er, I'm Izuku, and this is Sora. Thank you for letting us stay."
She nodded and left the tent with her father in tow.
Sora nodded as he glared at Donald. "Yeah, Izuku and I are staying."
"Well, what a coincidence because Goofy and I are staying too!"
"Huh?"
"Sora, Izuku, take a look at what we found." Goofy came up to them and pulled something out of his pocket. They looked over and saw a Gummi in his hands.
"Is that a Gummi block?"
"Yup." Donald nodded. "It's what we use to build our ships. So if we found one here, then that must mean the King could be here."
"Ha! And you wanted to pass by this place."
"At least I didn't crash the ship."
"We only crashed because you wouldn't hear us out."
"And thus, it begins again." Izuku sighed.
While those two bickered, Goofy went over to Izuku.
"How ya doin' there, Izuku? Ya feelin' okay? I saw ya hit yer head pretty hard before ya fell out. We were real worried."
"I'm okay," Izuku promised. "I had a concussion, but I think I healed the worst of it. I landed in a waterfall area, so no hard landings over here. Jiminy was with me, but he's with Sora now."
"Well, I'm glad y'all are okay. That's all that really matters."
Izuku shrugged and flinched as the yelling between Sora and Donald escalated.
"I had a feeling that would happen as soon as they saw each other." Goofy glanced at them.
"Me too…should we separate them?"
"I think it might be best if they get it all out of their system." He sighed. "He'll run out of steam soon., and then he'll be moody for a bit."
"I don't think Sora can hold too much of a grudge, or for too long."
"You're such a jerk! You're always yelling at us and-"
"Because you don't listen."
"We do listen! And you're always interrupting one of and-"
"I do not!"
"You just did it."
Izuku and Goofy stared at them before looking back at each other.
"Or not…"
Izuku stared at them before sighing. "I'm gonna step out for a second. Maybe I can try to find out more about this world. If there's a chance your King stopped here, there must be something important around here."
"Good idea. I'll try to keep these two from causin' another disaster."
He laughed to himself as he stepped out of the tent. He looked around the camp to get a good layout of everything. There were a few tents, probably different areas for different equipment. He walked around a saw a couple of crates and other workstations.
Some had what looked like complex science tools, and others had books cluttering up the space with notes full of hurried scribbles.
It almost reminded him of his desk back at his Master's home. While he was studying for exams, his desk was a mess. He didn't realize how bad it was until he had to clean it up once it was all done.
Izuku walked around, trying to see where everyone was.
Clayton was at the edge of the camp cleaning his gun. He glared into the thicket but otherwise kept to himself. Meanwhile, the Professor was at one of the tables taking notes. Jane was by another table but fiddling with something. Tarzan was beside her and watching what she did.
He couldn't help but look over the camp, scanning it again and again. Birds were singing, insects buzzing, and the occasional gust of wind. It was quiet, too quiet.
They had yet to encounter a Heartless this entire time, even when Tarzan was guiding them to the camp. He had been waiting for it to happen, for some kind of fight to break out. Instead, there was nothing.
Maybe he should have felt relieved, but instead, it unnerved him.
He was sure they were there. They had to be. Every world had Heartless in them, but they were never this quiet.
Something was off.
Izuku hummed to himself as he walked around the camp. He could tell the others about his worries once they came out of the tent.
I really hope they cool down soon.
"Oh, oh excuse me, young man!"
Izuku paused and turned to see the Professor hurrying over to him.
"Hello there. I believe the other young man said your name was Izuku, yes?"
"Yes sir, and his name is Sora. I take it you already know Donald and Goofy's names?"
"Yes, I do. Pardon me for asking, but I am rather curious, what brought you to this island? Are you all researchers as well?"
"Uhh…" Izuku looked at the tent. "Not…exactly. We're more so explorers?" He wasn't sure what kind of backstory or excuse the others would have wanted him to use. "We're looking for some friends of ours that went missing."
"Oh, oh dear. That's unfortunate."
He nodded. "Yeah, you or the others haven't seen them, have you? Sora's friends are called Riku and Kairi. I'm looking for M…Aqua, and a girl named Uraraka. Have any of you seen them?"
The older man hummed before shaking his head. "I'm afraid not, young man. We haven't seen anybody else in this jungle, well, other than Tarzan."
"I see."
"But that doesn't mean that they might not be here. I mean if your travels led you here, then perhaps you may have some luck!"
Izuku sighed and nodded to himself. "That's true, thank you. Anyway, I have another question."
"Yes?"
"Er…" Izuku looked around. "Have you all been dealing with any kind of…strange creatures?"
"Strange creatures, you say? Hmm…" Professor Porter put his head down to think. "This jungle is full of all sorts of animals that can be branded as strange, I suppose. Like the other day, we went exploring to try and find some gorillas, and I caught sight of the strangest thing. I saw a rather peculiar monkey from afar. Short little thing it was, though it was behaving a little erratically. I suppose it might have been upset by something. We were being quite loud."
Izuku watched him, then looked out at the jungle. "What did it look like? Did it have any strange markings on it?"
"I couldn't get a good look at it, but it had a strange discoloration on its chest. Strange coloring on a strange creature, I suppose. We could never get close to it. Mr. Clayton didn't recommend it."
"Have they ever come close at all? Or lashed out in any way?"
The older man shook his head. "Well, we haven't been attacked directly, but our camp was made a mess of one time we were away. I suspect it was those mischievous monkeys."
"They're avoiding you…at least for the time being. But why?"
"Well, animals can be quite skittish. I suppose they were curious."
"I guess that could be the case. Did they mess anything up in particular? Like, were they after anything?"
"I…hmm…" Professor Porter thought for a moment. "Actually, I was rather surprised to find that the monkeys hadn't touched our food. We were quite worried about that, but rather they destroyed rather mundane items. A few books were torn apart, a lantern or two, but the projector confused us the most!"
"The projector?"
"Yes, look over where Jane is at. Do you see the device she's fiddling with? She's trying to fix it, and I do hope she'll be able to. She was rather insistent that we bring it along our expedition while we were packing."
Books, lanterns…and a projector? If those monkeys were Heartless, I could understand the lanterns. They're a source of light that might bother them. The books…there's no way they'd be trying to look for Ansem's reports either, right? Are they even intelligent enough to do that? Unless they're acting on someone else's orders. But who else would know about Ansem's reports?
Izuku felt his hand tapping his chin as he thought.
Then the projector. That's something weird to go after. Why, of all things, that? Why even destroy some of the camp while they're not here? Usually, the Heartless would go for easy targets, wouldn't they? Unless there's some kind of deterrent. A bright light? Or a bigger darkness?
He looked between where Jane and Tarzan were, then to where Clayton was. He didn't want to think the worst of him, he really didn't. But there was something off about him, something that made him feel uneasy. He seemed fine at first glance, and he did help Donald and goofy get to the camp.
I don't know enough…I might be overthinking it.
He huffed and thanked the Professor for his time before leaving to approach Jane and Tarzan. He looked over his shoulder at the tent and saw nobody had come out yet, meaning the argument was still going on.
"Excuse me, your name is Jane, right?"
Jane paused before looking up at him. "Hmm? Oh, yes. Izuku, right? How can I help you?"
"Uh, I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help. I mean, we did show up out of nowhere, and you all were nice enough to let us stay here while we get ourselves together."
"Oh, don't you worry about that."
"Really, I don't mind."
Jane looked down at the projector, then back up at Izuku. "Well, some of the slides that go with the projector are still missing. They're likely scattered around the camp. If it isn't too much of a bother, could you find them?"
He nodded. "Yeah, of course!"
All the while, Tarzan looked over Jane as she repaired the device. Completely engrossed in what she was doing.
As Izuku walked away to find the slides, he saw Sora walk out of the tent and towards him. He sighed as the other Keyblade wielder glared at the ground.
"Did you two manage to solve anything?"
"Hmph." Sora looked away.
"Okay…" He rubbed his eyes. "Are you at least up for a quick errand?"
"What kind of errand?"
"Jane is looking for the slides that go with her projector. Apparently, they're scattered around the camp."
He stepped closer to Sora and lowered his voice. "I think the Heartless did it while they were away. They haven't been attacked directly by the Heartless, but it looks like they've at least caught sight of them."
Sora gave him a look. "Really? That's weird…"
"Sora, it's been weird. We should have come across at least one on our way here, but they haven't come by at all to attack us. Don't you think that should have happened by now?"
Sora opened his mouth, then stopped. "That's true. The only thing that attacked me was an angry leopard."
"And nothing since, right?"
"Yeah."
Izuku looked around the camp and saw Donald and Goofy talking nearby the tent. He should fill them in on this too.
"It's weird. And the stuff they destroyed in the camp? Some books, lanterns, and a projector. It's random. You would think Heartless would just wreck everything."
"Is there a boss Heartless around somewhere, maybe? Like in Traverse Town? There was a big one that made all the Heartless come out and made them attack everything. You think it's something like that?"
"Maybe. But the question is, where would it be?"
Sora hummed, "Well, you think Tarzan can show us around a bit more? He knows this place well. He's gotta know some hiding spots."
"True. We should tell Donald and Goofy about this, maybe get some second opinions."
"Why do we have to tell them? It's not like Donald is gonna be any help anyway. He'll just say that you're wrong and call it a day. He's not gonna listen."
Izuku shook his head. "He has a reason to be involved now, he thinks his King is here. It's a little selfish, but it's enough to keep his attention."
"Yeah, because what Donald wants is so important."
"I know you and Donald aren't on good terms right now," Izuku started, "but we are going to need his help Sora. If we do deal with Heartless, I can't play support and offense if it's just the two of us. He's the only other one of us that has healing magic, and that takes up a lot of energy."
"We have potions for a reason."
"It's not a good idea to make eating through our supplies an option."
Sora stared at Izuku before sighing. "Fine, but I'm not gonna tell him."
"I figured as much, can you at least start looking for the projector slides? They should be around the camp."
Sora gave a thumbs up and marched off in search of the slides.
Izuku watched him walk away before heading toward the other adults.
"I'm telling you he's doing it on purpose now. He's deliberately being difficult just to make me suffer."
"The two of ya just need a little more time to cool down. Ya can't stay mad at him forever, Donald."
"Watch me."
"Uh…"
The magician glanced his way and turned towards him. "What do you want?"
"Be nice Donald."
"Uh….I found out a little more about this world. Or at least the situation. They haven't dealt with any Heartless attacks directly, anyway. Sora and I haven't seen any Heartless yet, either. Their camp was trashed, but only certain things were destroyed. Sora's helping Jane find some slides for the projector they broke. I just thought I should fill you in."
"See? Why can't Sora be responsible like that?"
Goofy sighed and shook his head. "Thanks for tellin' us. And actually…I don't think we've seen any Heartless around, either. Have we, Donald?"
"No."
"We think there might be a big Heartless around coordinating the smaller ones. We were planning on asking Tarzan to show us around the jungle a little more, so maybe we can find it. The sooner we clear it out, the more time we have to look for our friends. Does that sound like a plan we can all get on board with?"
"I think it's a good plan, what about you, Donald?"
"Fine. Sounds good enough to me."
"Hey! Get back here!"
They looked across the camp to see Sora chasing after something and running out of the camp.
"Sora! What are you doing?" Izuku called after him.
"Get back here!"
"Sora, wait up!"
The others in the camp looked up to see them chasing after Sora.
"Where are you going?" Jane asked.
"We'll be right back. We'll bring 'im back!"
Tarzan looked at the others before grunting and following after them. The rest of them stayed where they were.
They raced through the treeline in pursuit of Sora. They could hear him running through the thicket and shouting at the Heartless to drop the slide.
You have to be kidding me, a Heartless got the slide? Now of all times?
They continued to run after Sora. They all prepared themselves for a fight. Where there was one Heartless, there may be more. They had no idea what they were running into.
Just before they caught up to him, they all heard a loud boom that startled them. Sora shouted in surprise ahead, and that made Donald and Goofy run faster.
Izuku couldn't help the way his body froze. A startling shock rang through him as the sound of the explosion rang through his ears.
He heard some shouting from ahead, and that was enough to shake him out of his surprise, and he sprinted forward. He jumped over a large tree root and pushed vines away to run into a large clearing.
He panted as he caught up to the group and saw Sora looking ahead at someone.
Izuku kept his gaze averted as he heard the Heartless hiss and growl. Before being silenced with another loud explosion. A harsh chill ran through his body.
"Woah…" Sora muttered. He took a step forward but felt a hand grab the back of his jacket to stop him. "Huh? Izuku?"
The older teen took a shaky breath as he heard a 'tch' from ahead of them. He slowly looked up to see none other than his former friend.
"Well, it's about time I found you, Deku."
-HoL-
A big thank you to KeeperofHounds for beta-reading this for me!