A.N. YO! Happy New year, I stayed up to celebrate and decided that since it is now the first of January that I would treat you all to the update... at least those that are awake. Fingers crossed that 2022 brings back some normalcy and isn't such a large shitshow like the last two years have been.

Chapter 2

Help of Strangers

If you had told Eva that she would accompany the runaway Sadida princess on a 'pilgrimage' she would've called you crazy. If you had told her that she'd be running after said runaway Sadida princess into the woods towards a mysterious blue light that was followed by a loud crash she would've said you'd lost your mind. Yet here she was, doing just that as Amalia was urging her mount forward.

"Come on Eva!"

Eva sighed and urged her mount to go just a little faster and the blue light disappeared, after nearly blinding the two women. It was strange though cause just before the crash Eva could swear she heard a scream before the crash sounded. Just as Amalia was reaching the edge of the trees into what seemed to be a clearing Eva removed her box from her side and readied an arrow, already expecting the worst.

The Amalia disappeared and Eva followed behind her with caution, waiting for the screams of terror as her princess was ambushed. But no scream of terror broke the silence of the forest, instead as Eva entered the clearing voices reached her ears.

"Sora. Goofy and I are glad that you are okay… But would you mind getting OFF of us!"

Eva released the magic that was holding her arrow together and dismounted her dragoturkey as she took in the scene of three strangers lying in a crumpled heap on the ground. From the tangled bodies she could make out an Eniripsa if his wings were anything to go by, an Ecaflip judging by the tail that was sticking out form the tangle and the ears upon his head, and a Cra judging by their clothes.

After the outburst the Eniripsa forcefully crawled his way out from the bottom of the pile and started impatiently tapping his foot as he waited for the other two to untangle themselves. He wings didn't show his agitation as they continued their lazy fluttering at his back.

Then the other two shifted, rolled, and they stood, the Ecaflip catching the Cra as the shorter struggled with their balance for a moment before righting themselves. As the scene unfold Eva took in the appearances of the three strangers. The Eniripsa was by far the shorted, stopping about a foot below the Cra's shoulders with silver hair that stuck up in a cow lick and an outfit consisting of blues, greys, and blacks.

The Ecaflip on the other hand stood over the Cra, he had tan-ish skin and long black hair. Unlike the Eniripsa he stood relaxed, no stress tensing his frame as he assisted the third of their group. The third member of their group was by far the strangest, even when he was laying on top of his companions in the tangled heap he had been laughing. It was clear that he was a carefree individual. His hair was styled in a way that is stuck up in numerous spikes and Eva had to question how it got to be like that.

The third finally noticed the audience that they had as he was brushing himself off. He stood taller and extended his hand towards Eva.

"Hey, I'm Sora." Eva gaped at Sora's introduction, the way he said it made it seem as though he hadn't just been laying in a crumpled heap on the ground and that Eva and Amalia weren't just there to witness the whole scene of the three companions untangling themselves. Eva stared at the boy's hand, still skeptical of the three strangers, when Amalia grabbed his hand and shook it.

After the hand shake was finished Sora gestured to his two friends "This is Donald," he gestured to the short Eniripsa, "and this is Goofy." He gestured to the Ecaflip. With both introductions Amalia shook their hands and then introduced herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Princess Amalia Sheran Sharm of the Sadida people." Eva watched as Sora and his companions exchanged looks before Sora returned his gaze to Amalia. "It's great to meet you Princess Amalia and…" Sora turned towards Eva, clearly waiting for her own introduction. "Evangelyne, traveling companion to Princess Amalia."

"It's great to meet both of you." Sora provided both with a wide smile. "Actually the three of us aren't from this area, since you said you were traveling could you tell us where we are?" Eva looked between the three strangers, crossing her arms, and deciding to save gathering information from them for later… if they ever met again.

"Actually Eva and I were on our way towards Emelka, I don't see why you couldn't come with us until we reach our destination." Amalia said as she and Eva both remounted their Dragoturkeys. Eva in turn stared in shock at the princess before turning to the three strangers before releasing a sigh. "I don't see any reason why you can't join us, but sadly we only have the two mounts, so you three will just have to walk."

Sora and his companions nodded in understanding as Eva urged her mount forward, Amalia following suit soon after with the three starting at a jogging pace to keep up with the two mounted riders. Behind her Eva could hear the three companions talking to each other between breaths but not once did they complain about the pace or about getting tired.

Slightly turning her head, Evengelyne cast a glance to the three and saw that they were keeping up well with the Dragoturkeys. Not once, even on the uneven terrain did the companions falter in their pace or in their steps. If anything it could easily be believed that the three of them have run distances and terrain like this before. She turned back around and saw that Amalia was staring back at the strangers with an excited gleam in her eyes that told Eva that the princess would start asking questions by the dozen once they stopped.

Eva resigned herself to the fact that there wasn't anything she could really do to stop the princess, short of leaving the three of them behind, turning back to the front she saw that they were approaching a large bridge. As the group neared the bridge Eva slowed down their pace and stopped in front of an Enutrof, sporting the ragged patched clothes and white hair that was common among the Enutrof population. Coming to a stop behind the male she had casted a shadow over the male, who had yet to notice their approach.

"Excuse me, but is this the way to Emelka?" Eva asked as those behind her stopped. The man turned and eyed the one who asked him the question, then his gaze went to those who were behind her. He didn't pay much attention to the three standing on the ground much, instead his gaze went directly to the golden stirrups of the Sadida princess's mount.

"Why yes my lady, this is the way to Emelka, and if this is your first time, I can give you a tour personally." The Enutrof said with a bow, Eva sent a glare at the man, without saying a word to him she turned to the three strange companions. "This is where Amalia and I take our leave, just as the Enutrof said if you follow this bridge you should get to Emelka just fine."

With that she turned and urged her mount forward, Amalia and her mount close behind. Soon after the two were out of sight Sora turned to his friends. "Well Donald, Goofy you heard what she said." Sora turned his sight down the bridge and began jogging, he made a gesture with his arm telling his friends to follow. "Let's go guys." And just like that the Enutrof was left alone without earning a single kama from any of the strangers. He sighed and began making his way to Emelka, singing, unaware of the little bug shaped device that was watching him.

_-~~0~~-_

The three walked almost in a line seeming far more cheerful then most people would if they had found themselves in a similar situation. Sora placed his hands behind his head, and turned around so that he was walking backwards and facing his friends. "So once we get to this Emelka place what should our first order of business be?" Donald and Goofy exchanged looks then turned back to Sora who was once again wearing his lazy trade mark smile.

"Well I was thinking we should get a meal first and discuss what to do next afterwards." Goofy suggested as he started walking in his usual slouched over laid back kind of way. Donald on the other hand had to walk with short bursts of speed just to keep up. "Well I think we should try to find a map first, and then go out to eat." Stated Donald in the clear voice that he had while in this form. Almost as if they had planned it, "Sora, what do you want to do first?" Donald and Goofy both looked at Sora waiting for his answer. Sora put some thought into it and then shrugged.

"Well as much as I agree with Donald and getting a map first I also think we should get food first, so how about we just go with whatever we bump into first." Donald and Goofy both let out sighs. They have been with Sora long enough to know that, would've been his answer. The three continued and once the town that they thought to be Emelka came into view the three sped up their pace and ran the rest off the way.

In the town they had no idea as to how much their clothes made them stick out. People who lived in the town would cast the three looks then and again as the three strangely dressed individuals made their way through town. The three followed their instincts or rather their guts to an Inn that had a wonderful aroma wafting out from inside. Sora had his hand on the door and was about to turn the knob when Donald yelled out.

"Sora wait! Do we even have money that is local to this world?" Donald asked as he tore Sora's hand from the knob. Sora shrugged his shoulders. "Donald there are bound to be Moogles in here so what are you so worried about." Sora stated as he once again placed his hand on the knob. This time it was Goofy that intervened. "Sora, I think Donald has a point, because so far we haven't even seen any Moogles, even as we passed through the last village that was on the bridge."

Sora removed his hand from the handle and turned. "So what do you suppose we do then? Starve?" As the last word escaped his mouth as one all three of their stomachs let out growls of hunger at the promise of food just beyond the door but no way of getting to it.

Defeated the three sat at the side of the Inn practically killing themselves with the torture of the promised food behind them on the other side of the wall. The three sat like this when a young boy wearing a strange hat that to Sora seemed all to familiar. The boy walked up and stood in front of the three.

"My dad won't like you sitting there. He says that people sitting in front of the Inn scare away guests." The boy stated as Sora continued to stare at the boy's hat trying to remember where it was that he had seen such a strange hat before. While Sora was focusing more on the boy's hat Donald was taking ahold of the situation, trying to get a meal out of the boy, who Donald could just tell was too good for his own good, much like a spikey haired friend of his.

After explaining the situation that the three had found themselves in, the boy who said his name was Yugo ran inside to see if they could make a deal for a meal. After a few minutes Yugo returned with good news as well as a smile on his face.

"My dad said that you would do dishes to pay off the meal." The three followed Yugo inside and the aroma that they thought was heavenly from the outside was even more so once it hit them as they entered the Inn. The three sat down next to one another and suddenly a deep, gruff, voice came from behind Donald, almost making the small winged, once a duck, teen jump from his seat. "Sorry, but that seat belongs to a friend of mine, you are going to need to move." The three turned to the source of the voice and from the kitchen Yugo called out.

"Hey Dad! Sorry I forgot to tell them about the chair, but these are the three that I was talking about!" Yugo's father smiled and the tension that his outburst had caused was instantly gone. "That is fine, and I am Alibert, Yugo's father and Mayor of Emelka." Wait so this man was not only the one who was kindly letting them eat at his establishment but he was also the mayor. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exchanged looks and nodded to one another all of them coming to the same conclusion. It was Sora that spoke.

"Sir you wouldn't happen to have a map would you? Cause my companions and I are currently lost and we have a... mission to get back to." At Sora's request Alibert shook his head. "Sorry boys but as travelers you must know that it is close to impossible to acquire a map of the world and if not impossible then very rare to find one."

The three exchanged downcast expressions but before their mood could get to downcast the door of the Inn opened and in the doorway stood the old white haired man in shabby clothes from the bridge. The man sat down in the chair that Donald had once occupied and began a conversation with Alibert about things from the past proving that the two did in fact know each other. The old man paused during the conversation and looked at the three friends sitting next to him.

"You three are from the bridge." Stated Ruel Stroud whose name Sora and his friends only found out as he and Alibert were talking. Now that Ruel saw them up close he was able to take in their appearances, as well as their outfits the likes of which he had never seen before. "So I had never seen you three before, mind telling us where you three are from?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exchanged graces again only this time they did not know how to reply in the end it was Sora who answered.

"Well you see we aren't.. really from... this... area and we aren't really at liberty to tell you where we are from." Sora said as he nervously rubbed the back of his head able to tell by the looks exchanged that they didn't believe what he had said at all. Luckily before the two could press the matter screams reached the Inn from the town and soon following the screams something crashed through the door and wall of the Inn causing debris and wood splinters to fly everywhere.

The Inn sat in stiff silence as the dust and debris fell and settled. Everyone gasped as one when they saw what had crashed through the wall. Sora took I'm the appearance of the large beast that took up nearly the entire hole that it had made into the wall. The large beast had grey skin and red hair, but the main thing that Sora saw were the beasts dull grey eyes that appeared dead. Though Sora couldn't his eyes from the beast something behind the beast called for Sora's attention more. Behind the beast Sora could just barely make out the shapes of many heartless all swarming behind the beast just waiting to get at their victims inside as well as the one thing that dare try to get in their way. The keybearer. Him.

A.N. I'll see ya'll next month with the next update though I wanted to let ya know that I'll be posting updated looks for the trio and their weapons on my Deviantart account as well as some other Kingdom Hearts/Wakfu Art sometime tomorrow or in the coming days. You'll be able to find the account under Samansa-Chan147. I have some other art there and some older designs for the fanfic that I already posted but with the revision going on I thought I'd go all the way and revamp the designs I made as well so if you are interested they will be uploaded in the coming days.

Until Next Month Peace, Love, and Virtual Hugs