'Ugh...my head...' I groaned as I slowly sat up. 'W...what happened?'
I looked around. I was in an unfamiliar town. There were flashing lights and fancy signs everywhere. However, there was no one in sight.
'Where are we...?' I rubbed my head. 'Lance, do you—?'
I turned to see no one there. Not even Lance. I was on my own.
'Lance?!' I started to panic. 'Where are you?'
I tried to calm myself and wandered around, I found myself at a small fountain with a beautiful mural behind it. I had approached it when I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned around.
'Lance?' I called out nervously. 'Is that you?'
There was no one there.
'I could have sworn I heard footsteps,' I thought aloud. 'Maybe it was just my imagination...'
Suddenly, a creature appeared out of nowhere. It was wearing navy blue clothing with a helmet. It had a shadowy face and beady, yellow eyes. I tried to run but more appeared, surrounding me. I reached for my bow.
'Huh?!' I felt around the empty space behind me. 'Where is it?!'
The creatures slowly began to close in on me. I had nowhere to run or no weapon to fight with. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for my end. There was a loud sound then I heard footsteps coming towards me.
'Are you alright?' I heard someone say.
I opened my eyes. There was a man with dark brown hair and a leather jacket. He was carrying a large sword with the handle in the shape of what looked to be a gun.
'Y-yeah...' I mumbled. 'Thanks.'
'You're lucky I came when I did.' He sighed. 'Anyway, I'm Leon.'
'My n-name's Ai.' I stuttered.
'Ai, huh?' Leon tapped his blade on his shoulder. 'Have you seen anyone wielding a giant key anywhere?'
I shook my head.
'Tell me if you do.' He turned and began walking away.
'Wait!' I cried, making him stop and turn to me. 'Can I stay with you? At least until I have a weapon or something?'
'Fine...' Leon let out an annoyed sigh. 'Why are you by yourself anyway?'
'I...I don't know...' I fidgeted with my shirt. 'M-my home was attacked by those shadowy creatures, and I woke up here.'
'You too, huh?'
I looked at the ground, then back up at him.
'Have you seen my brother?' I asked eagerly. 'He has blonde hair, blue eyes and he's a little taller than me.'
'Nope.' Leon shook his head.
I let out a worried sigh, 'I hope he's okay...'
Leon led me into a hotel room. The walls and even the bedsheets were mostly green.
'Stay here and get some rest,' Leon said. 'You should be safe for now.'
'But—'
'No buts.' He cut me off. 'You'll just get in the way.'
I stared at the floor, 'Okay...'
'I'll be back soon,' Leon said, walking towards the door. 'Don't let anyone else in until then.'
I heard the door open and close as I sat on the bed with a sigh. As I lay down, I began to think of Lance.
'I hope you're safe somewhere...' I mumbled, struggling to keep myself awake.
I opened my eyes to find myself lying on the ground in an unfamiliar place. As I looked around I noticed waterfalls, but they were different. They were falling in reverse, or rather, they were rising. There was water beneath me running off the edge of either side. Even though it looked deep, I didn't sink under.
'What a strange place...' I thought aloud, climbing to my feet. 'I wonder where this is...'
As I looked ahead, I saw two people talking. One of them had silver hair, was wearing baggy, blue pants. The other looked oddly familiar...
'Lance!' I called out, reaching out to him.
However, he didn't seem to notice me. I ran towards the two boys, but then a flash of light blinded me.
I snapped awake as the door swung open. A girl with short, black hair strolled in, followed by Leon, who was carrying an unconscious boy around my age. I stood up quickly and moved out of the way as Leon placed the boy on the bed.
'Is he okay?' I asked.
'He's fine,' Leon said, leaning against the door.
'Squall gave him quite a beating,' the short-haired girl butted in, Leon shooting her a glare. 'I'm Yuffie, by the way. Squall mentioned you were here.'
'O-oh...' I said. 'But why did you attack him?'
'Long story.' Leon tossed me a first aid kit. 'Patch him up, would you?'
I nodded and began tending to the boy, treating any cuts and bandaging him up. I looked at his face. How could he look so peaceful after being so badly injured?
'Oh, by the way.' Leon interrupted my thoughts. 'I found these lying around. Thought you could use it.'
I turned to face Leon, who was holding a bow and quiver.
'My bow!' I exclaimed. 'You found it!'
Everyone turned to the boy as he began to stir. Yuffie walked over to the bed.
'Come on, lazy bum,' she said. 'Wake up!'
The boy opened sat up and opened his eyes, looked over at Yuffie.
'You okay?' She bent down.
'I...guess...' The boy nodded.
'Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade,' Yuffie began to explain.
'Keyblade?' I looked over at Leon, and noticed the giant key resting on the wall next to him.
'But it's your heart they really want,' she continued. 'Because you wield the Keyblade.'
There was a long pause as the boy stared up at Yuffie. I guess he was trying to process what was happening.
'I'm so glad that you're okay Kairi,' he finally said.
'Kairi? Who are you talking about?' Yuffie looked confused. 'I'm the great ninja Yuffie!'
'Huh?'
Yuffie turned to glare at Leon, 'I think you might've overdone it, Squall!'
'That's "Leon".'
'The Keyblade...' The boy thought aloud.
'Yeah, we had to get it away you to shake off those creatures,' Yuffie explained. 'It turns out that's how they were tracking you.'
'It was the only way to conceal your heart from them,' Leon added. 'But it won't work for long.'
I watched as Leon picked up the key.
'Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one,' he swung the key, testing it out before it vanished and reappeared in the boy's hand. 'Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers.'
'So this is the person he was looking for...' I thought.
'Why don't you start making sense?!' The boy frowned. 'What's going on here?'
Leon and Yuffie explained to the boy, whose name was apparently Sora, about dark creatures called the Heartless taking over worlds and consuming them with darkness. The Keyblade was apparently one of the only things those creatures feared, and it had chosen Sora as its master, so he'd constantly be a target.
'Well, I didn't ask for this.' Sora complained.
'The Keyblade chooses its master,' Yuffie said. 'And it chose you!'
'So, tough luck.' Leon waved his hand.
'Are you saying there's no way to help him?' I finally piped up. 'There has to be a way!'
'Nope,' Leon shook his head. 'He'll just have to learn to fight.'
'How did this even happen?' Sora looked at the Keyblade. 'I remember being in my room...'
He gasped and jumped to his feet.
'Wait a minute! What happened to my home?! My Island?!' He cried. 'Riku! Kairi!'
'Riku and Kairi? Were they his friends?'
'You know what?' Leon began. 'I really don't know.'
'Ai.' Yuffie turned to me. 'Maybe you could ask Sora.'
I paused for a moment, before turning to Sora, who waiting for me to speak.
'U-um...have you seen a boy...?' I stuttered, sitting down beside him. 'He's blond, and a little taller than me...'
Sora shook his head.
'Where could he be...? I'm scared...' I whimpered and covered my face with my hands as tears clouded my vision. 'He could be hurt...or worse!'
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Sora giving me a gentle smile.
'Don't cry,' he said. 'I'm sure he's okay. In fact, I bet he's looking for you right now!'
'Y-you think so?' I sniffled, wiping my eyes.
Sora nodded.
I smiled, 'Th-thanks...'
'Leon!' Yuffie yelled, pointing at the Heartless at the door.
'Yuffie and Ai, go!' Leon pointed to the door joining the hotel rooms. Leon hit the Heartless through the window.
Yuffie ran through the door and joined with another girl, but I stood there and frowned.
'I'm going with you!' I said.
'Ai, no!' Leon snapped. 'Go with Yuffie!'
'I have my bow now,' I cried. 'I can help!'
'Let her come,' Sora butted in.
Leon fell silent for a moment, before letting out a defeated sigh.
'Sora, Ai...' He said. 'Let's go!'
Leon jumped out the window he hit the Heartless through, with Sora and I following behind. When he joined Leon on the ground, we saw that we were surrounded by Heartless.
'Don't worry about the small fry!' Leon yelled. 'Find their leader!'
Leon ran off before we could stop him.
'Shall we?' I turned to Sora, who nodded.
I followed him as we ran through hordes of Heartless, occasionally taking out any that would attack us. We finally got to an area that seemed quiet and free of Heartless.
'Are you okay?' Sora asked me.
'Yeah, nothing I can't handle,' I replied. 'You?'
'I'm fine,' he said. 'Let's take a look around the area.'
Sora ran down the stairs and disappeared behind the wall.
'W-wait for me!' I cried, running after him.
I then heard some screaming and a loud crash. I quickly ran around the corner to see a duck, and a dog lying on Sora. All were dazed and confused. When they finally snapped out of it, they noticed Sora's Keyblade.
'The key!' They both exclaimed.
At that moment, there was a huge earthquake and a large pillar sprung up in front of me.
'Sora!' I called out, hitting the wall.
'I'm okay!' I heard him yell back.
I looked up and saw Heartless appear and jump down to the other side.
'Oh no!' I cried, running back up the stairs.
When I reached the top, I peeked over the railing to see Sora and the other two fighting off the Heartless that surrounded them.
'Sora!' I waved. 'I'll fight from up here with my bow!'
Sora looked up and nodded, 'Be careful!'
Sora and the others fought off the Heartless below, while I shot at any that got too close to them. Eventually, we managed to clear them out. Sora took a couple of steps forward, looking around. I watched quietly, anxiety in my gut. At that moment, some large objects fell from the sky before coming together as one giant Heartless.
'I-it's huge!' My eyes widened. 'Be careful, Sora!'
I readied my bow, loading up an arrow before aiming it at the helmet of the creature. I fired, but it had no effect on the monster. All I could do was watch helplessly as Sora and the others fought the creature. I was afraid that they would be beaten, but they managed to defeat it. The Heartless began to violently shake before falling to pieces, a glowing heart float from it into the sky. I ran down to greet Sora.
'So, you were looking for me?' Sora asked, pointing to himself.
The two nodded.
'They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade,' a voice said from behind us.
We turned around to see that Leon and Yuffie had joined us.
'Hey! Why don't you come with us?' The taller of the two strangers said to Sora. 'We can go to other worlds on our vessel!'
'Other worlds...' I thought. 'Maybe that's where I'll find Lance...'
'I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi...' Sora said.
'Of course!' The duck piped up.
The two then turned around and began whispering something to each other.
'Sora, go with them,' Leon joined in. 'Especially if you want to find your friends.'
'Yeah, I guess...' Sora hung his head.
'But you can't come along looking like that. Understand?' The duck said. 'No frowning, no sad faces. Okay?'
'Yeah, ya gotta look funny. Like us!' The taller one grinned, before being shoved aside.
'This boat runs on happy faces!'
'Happy?' Sora didn't look up as the two waited.
'Sora...?' I reached out to put my hand on his shoulder when all of a sudden he looked up with the silliest grin on his face.
There was silence, and Sora looked at them in confusion before they burst out laughing. Even I giggled a little bit.
'That's one funny face!' The tall one said.
'Okay, why not?' Sora nodded. 'I'll go with you guys!'
'Donald Duck!' The duck held up his hand.
'The name's Goofy!' The taller one put his hand over Donald's.
'And I'm Sora!' Sora joined them.
'All for one, one for all!' Goofy cheered.
'Oh! Wait, before we go...' Sora turned to me. 'Can she come too?'
'Hmm...' Donald folded his arms, thinking.
'I-I promise I won't get in the way!' I bowed. 'Please, I'm looking for my brother!'
'Well...' Donald began.
'She should come too!' Sora butted in. 'She's worried sick about him!'
'Very well,' Donald said.
'Oh! Thank you so much!' I smiled with tears in my eyes.
'Don't start crying now!' Sora said jokingly, patting me on the head. 'It'll be okay.'
This was the start of a big adventure that I'd never forget.