The Key To Hearts

[Yoshimitsu]

OOC- Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT just join this RP. If you want in, PM me and I'll decide if you can join or not. If you do reply without my permission, I'm auto-banning you. End of. You've been warned.

BIC-

The universe was divided. It was split into a series of smaller worlds, each one completely unique and seperate from the others. One world may be inhabited with normal humans, while the next would be likely to have ghosts and the undead, and another world might be full of animals or completely devoid of life. No one knew why the universe was like this, just that it was and it always had been. Surrounding each world was a barrier of sorts - it was completely invisible, but no one could pass through it. However, the universe was not as it should be. For some reason, these barriers were cracking, and things were slipping through the gaps.

These things always seemed to come in two varieties.

The first ones were almost comical looking at times, and at others downright terrifying. The number of different species was unknown, and they seemed to adapt based on their current location. In a water-based planet, these things would adapt to be able to swim and survive underwater, while in a mostly air-based planet, they would have developed wings or some other means of flying. There were only two things that were consistent among these entities. The first was a desire. They attacked anything they saw that still had its 'heart', its essense, its very soul. The second was an emblem. On every one of these creatures, there was an emblem. A black and red heart, with a cross in the middle and a tail coming from it.

These were the Heartless.

However, the Heartless were not the only things that had appeared. These other entities were all silver. That was one of the most noticable things about them. They were silver. There was no adaptation for different environments, like the Heartless. They could survive anywhere. Another detail about them was their movement. The most common type of these creatures were flexible. Elastic. They could slip and stretch anywhere, and surround their prey without any need for others. They, too, seeked to attack people who had hearts, but they seemed to be fuelled more by jealousy and anger, anger at the things that still had their hearts. These creatures were the lifeless husks that were left behind when a person lost their heart. Their attachment to life kept them 'living', and they seemed to want to get a heart back, and carry on living.

These were the Nobodies.

However, despite the fact that these creatures shared a similar goal, they were not allies. On any world that had both types of creature occupying it, one would be more likely to find them fighting rather than seeking out hearts to steal. It was a mystery, why they worked like they did. But it was no concern of some people...

Shigai was sat in Traverse Town. Traverse Town was one of the many worlds out there, but it was the most special to some people. This was because Traverse Town was the world that people went to when they had nothing left. If a world was eaten by the darkness, which was happening alarmingly often, anyone who survived found themself in Traverse Town. No one was sure why people found themselves there. It was like the world just reached out and grabbed anyone who was about to lose their world, and dragged them to one of the few safe havens.

"Traverse Town," Shigai muttered to himself, reaching to his coffee and taking a sip. He was sat in the First District. This was the only safe district out of the three. The other two, for some reason, had Heartless in them. There were only a few people who knew why the First District was safe. Traverse Town was home to a powerful wizard, who had cast a few choice enchantments, and set up wards against Heartless and Nobodies around the First District. Shigai glanced over at one of the massive doors that lead to a different district, and could feel the strength of the enchantments.

"Well, whatever," he said, standing up. His attire was very out-of-place in the very subdued colours of Traverse Town. His hair was medium length, shorter at the back but with a long side-fringe, with silver streaks in it all over that seemed to glow. On his top half, he was wearing a silver button-up shirt that the sleeves had clearly been ripped from, though by what was unknown. On his legs, he wore black trousers made of a strange, flowing material, much like what dancers wore to emphasise their movements. These stretched down to his feet, where he wore heavy-looking black combat boots.

"Who would choose to come here?" Shigai muttered to himself. He threw down a couple of notes to pay for his coffee, then ascended the stairs leading to another large door, the entrance to the Second District.

 

[Artiste]

Space. The endless, black, starry space. Nothing existed, nothing mattered... all there was just happened to be a ship flying through it. Its only passenger was the navigator, pilot, and gunner; the navigator, pilot, and gunner who was about to die of boredom.

"Gah, will I ever get there?" he asked himself. "Seems like this trip's been going forever."

And, knowing his luck, he would miss the world entirely on his way, and have to circle around. Hopefully not, but it was always a possibility. Another hour finally passed before he saw any sign of a world; a large space filled with gunfire. It was the Heartless and the Nobodies, fighting as always. Shots, missiles and explosions filled the air with their racket. The boy was tempted to open fire and destroy them all in one fell swoop, but that'd be a bit too risky.
Risky maneuvers, trying to get to a planet unharmed, and carrying cargo of Gummi parts was a very bad situation to be embroiled in; especially when outnumbered ten thousand to one. Chances were, if he really was stupid enough to make an imbecilic move such as that, the enemy wouldn't even notice, as they would be far too intent on eradicating each others' forces. In any case, he wasn't going to risk it.

No, his target was right in the center of the turmoil. Traverse Town. The world where everyone who had nothing had something.

He needed to get there soon. Very soon. The only course of action in his mind was to fly straight through it... what a risky maneuver.

"I like it."

With that said to the empty Gummi Ship, he flew right into the midst of the battle. For a half hour, he cut his way through Nobodies and Heartless alike, who didn't even notice him. They just kept on in their single-minded pursuit of each others' destruction. He went into a rut of flying about ten yards, swerving and then firing the back guns at the ship he avoided. Finally, he saw the planet clearly.

Problem was, there was a Heartless ship that had a seemingly competent pilot and gunner; must've been an officer's ship, if they even had those. His only choice was to fight it, or hope that a bunch of Nobodies would come and attack it. He chose the former. He swerved, employing a rather rudimentary tactic; strafing. He would fly around avoiding the ship's fire, while firing in turn. He had very advanced gun and missile systems on his ship, and chose to use them to his advantage.

"Heh, this thing just won't die!" he said as he fired increasingly desperately; the longer the battle went on, the more likely he was to get hit. "Die, you blasted Heartless--" His words were interrupted by a large booming sound. The many small sounds of explosions went away as one large one tore at his eardrums, and the Heartless and Nobodies were extinguished; that included the one he was fighting. He decided to not test his luck and fly for Traverse Town as quickly as possible, lest his employer get angry.

~*~*~

As he stood near the gate of the city, surveying it, he surmised that nothing had really changed much. The same half-empty square, the same stores, same humongous doors leading to other districts (which he liked to investigate, even if the Heartless infested them. He walked into the center of the square, surveying the sky.

I s'pose I'm stuck here for a while, so I might as well enjoy it, he thought to himself as he walked toward a stand selling coffee.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

It was evident, once Shigai stepped through the door, that the wards were effective only for the First District of Traverse Town. Quickly, the teenager ducked to the side of the door, concealed in a shadow. From where he was stood, he could see far too many Heartless for his liking. The theory of adaptation of Heartless seemed true enough as well - the only ones he could see were the Shadows, the small primitive ones with alarmingly sharp claws, and the Soldiers, the ones that were only a step above Shadows, clad in deep red and blue 'clothes', with very dangerous gloves. Shigai glanced to his side, making sure his path was clear.

"And the Nobodies haven't come because the odds are overwhelming. This place is the breeding grounds for these things," he muttered to himself as he crept through the Second District. He was here on duty, as always. A meeting. With someone who had some good research on the nature of Heartless, apparently. It wouldn't be the first time that Shigai had been sent on a mission like this. He had also been instructed to examine something in particular, hidden behind the fountain. However, that was secondary. Again, Shigai glanced around him, making sure nothing had seen him.

So far, he was doing a good job of hiding himself. None of the Heartless had sensed his presense and come hunting for a fresh heart. If he wasn't so concerned about keeping quiet, he might have laughed. Another corner, he stuck his head round and quickly darted round it, staying away from the main routes around the district. It was only a matter of time, he guessed, until the Heartless realised someone else was there, someone who was very un-Heartless-like. If he was lucky, he might be able to avoid that until after his meeting.

"This is getting silly now," he muttered, finding his route blocked by another nest of Shadows. He made to step away as quietly as possible, but his foot caught an empty bottle and kicked it, sending it rattling very audibly back down the path. The effect was immediate, and every Shadow eye was on Shigai. "Shit." No point waiting around - he turned and ran. He had to make it out of the Second District. There was no way he could fight this number of Heartless.

A shrill cry pierced the air, and Shigai swore again. It was the call he knew all too well, the call that alerted every single Heartless in the area to an intruder. If he wasn't fast enough, he'd have an army of Heartless on his tail, and no way out of it without revealing himself. He ran round another corner, and found his path barred. Surrounded. No way out.

"Oh, I hate this part," Shigai said, readying himself.

 

[Kalseng]

A blackened soul, one darker than shadows themselves. This heartless wandered the third district, the other heartless litteraly stepping out of his way as he walked down the corridors. The shadows turned into their flat forms and moved away as his steps reverberated through the echo chambers the standing walls had created. As a less-than-talkative heartless, this being had never gotten to tell anyone with intelligence his name. The poor creature had never been called a name in a mute world. Tal felt alone. He had a higher level of intelect, one that surpassed that of even humans.

Tal had grown restless in his many weeks in traverse town. He was bored to the point of death, so he had taken to learning magic spells and honing some of his combat skills. He knew that there was not always a reason to fight. In fact, he had come to a mutual understanding with the more inteligent nobodies. The nobodies hadn't shown up inat least ten years, however. Well, no nobodies that were some form of actual threat. There had been a few nobodies showing up within that same year, beleiving that they could somehow make a difference. Tal had obliterated each and every nobody that showed up that year without a second thought. None had been around since.

Tal was created almost in the image of man, with few differences. His head was black like the shadows that he had always known, but only slightly face-shaped, however. Pure yellow, round eyes peered out from beneath his black, hair-like portrusions from his head, which were topped with a black, wide-brimmed "hat". His form was covered in what looked like a coat, lined with a dark blue color. It had many pockets running down the front, each containing absolutely nothing. He wore a pair of black "pants" as well, each covering up a pair of black "shoes". He typically kept his hands in two large pockets on the front of his "Jacket", only taking them out to negotiate with the nobodies or to fight other heartless who felt the need to lash out against Tec. All of his skin was purely black, resembling his Heartless kin.

Tal was pacing in front of the door leading to the second distract when a call rang out. Tal turned to the source, recognizing it as a call to alert all heartless of an intruder. A feeling deep in the pit of his stomach told him that whatever it was was alone and about to be killed. All the heartless around him turned into there fastest modes of travle, and flew or scurried to the source of the cry. Tal pulled his hands out of his pockets, and concentrated magic into them. He used a comibnation of Aero and gravity, creating no only bursts of wind, but also defying gravity, making him nearly fly to his next destination. He soared up in the air, hovering over the seperating wall.

He glanced around, and saw what looked to be a teenager decked in white being chased by a collection of heartless of all szes. Tal hesitated as he watched worried of what would happen. He would have groaned if he could, and flew down quickly towards the eenager, until he was close enough to the group of oncoming heartless to watch, but not interfere. He flew down closer, and soared next to the teenager, looking at him silently, scanning him over.

Tal would probably regret this, but he felt it was best to help the poor creature. He held out a hand, still charged with harmless energy, and gave an admissive gesture to the running teen.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

One glance at the mysterious Heartless that was floating alongside him told Shigai two things - the first, this Heartless meant him no harm. It was not doing anything even remotely hostile, nor trying to bar his path. The second, this Heartless was a lot stronger than the rest of the things in the Second District. So far, he was happy to only see Shadows and Soldiers following him. However, he had to open himself a path.

"Fucking Heartless," he muttered to himself. He clapped his hands together, then stretched them outwards, something forming in the space between his hands. With a flourish, Shigai pulled a spear into existence. It was very intricately designed, completely silver with a curved blade, the divide decorated with an unusual symbol, that looked a bit like a cross. Shigai spun the spear around him, then jumped into a combat stance.

"Just so you know, Heartless," he said, looking directly at this unusual Heartless that had not tried to attack him. "If you try to get in my way, I'll kill you just as readily as I'll kill these things." To emphasise his point, he spun and stabbed the tip of his spear through the nearest Shadow's head, causing it to disintigrate into nothing. He swung the spear outwards, catching in it another Shadow and a Soldier, reducing them to nothing as well. With a mighty thrust, he lunged at the Heartless blocking his way to the door, throwing them aside before making a desperate dash.

"Oh no you don't," Shigai muttered, spinning and swinging his spear round in a wide circle, throwing a number of Heartless back that were trying to surround him. He quickly faced forwards again, but was sent staggering when he felt a searing pain across his back. One of the Soldiers had ducked under his attack and slashed at his back with its infuriatingly deadly gloves. Shigai spun again, this time whirling his spear around himself, cutting through the Soldier. Without waiting to watch the Soldier fade away, he ran again and threw himself against the door to the First District, tumbling through the doorway and rolling to a halt.

However, it didn't go entirely according to plan. The door hadn't closed, and the Heartless that had been pursuing him had followed through.
"Oh, for god's sake..." Shigai snapped. Around him, the First District began to panic. Heartless never stepped foot in there, it was the one safe haven, and suddenly here they were. "I'm gonna have to take out these things before I can get to the door again..." Shigai spun his spear again, staring down the Heartless that had followed him through.

 

[Kalseng]

Tal followed the group of heartless and the teen that had been chasing down the second district's pathways. Tal had no choice at this point, and he felt remorseful for it. They would all have to die. Tal threw out a charged hand, and cast a Fire spell at the nearest few heartless. It was a bit more highly charged than a normal Fire spell, coming from someone with an aptitude for magic. It barely even graced two Shadows, but both were immediately destroyed in a firey inferno that engulfed not only them, but also three surrounding Soldiers.

Before Tal could even cast another spell, the group had been decimated by the teen that had been running. At least ten had been destroyed. Tal smiled to himself, and did a victory spin in mid-air. On the back spin of the turn, however, he spied another heartless army crawling over the walls and floors to try and tear appart the two battlers. Tal turned to the group, and cast a Blizzara at their feet, creating not only a slick ground, but a wall of frozen heartless and tall icicles. Tal figured this would give them the necessary time they needed to fend off the first group.

Tal turned tail, and flew over the door to first district. He saw the teen turning to face the large army, one against one hundred. Tal flew down towards them, and stepped on the ground. He stood clear out of the way from the onslaughting human-esque figure, and put out his charged hands. He cast four rapid-fire Fire spells, which eliminated five different heartless, with two misses. Tal threw another hand in the air, casting two Thunders, which effectively eliminated two and stunned three others. The worst part was, they all continued crawling into the district, using every inch of the walls and doors to get in.

Tal saw a Soldier sneak behind the two warriors, trying to get behind the other. Tal cast a Fire, but the Soldier dodged and lunged at the other warrior. Tal silently cursed and cast a Reflect spell, which caught the Soldier, and threw it back against a building, where it obliterated with force. Tal decided it might be a good idea to keep on the defensive, and assumed a new fighting stance, one that allowed him to use his claw-like hands to his advantage. Not only were the Shadows and Soldiers filing in by twos to the First District, but his ears could pick up the noise of ice cracking in the distance. This was not a favorable fight.

 

[Artiste]

Looking around the square, it was peaceful, serene, even... that is, unless you counted the tens of thousands of Shadows and Soldiers flooding it. There were two lone figures against the constantly swarming Heartless; one was stabbing and slashing skillfully with an ornate spear, and the other casting spells. He'd go help, but having no weapon, charging into battle to fight a losing cause and widespread panic in the current residents of the square was a very bad combination. Eh, a challenge was always welcome. He ran to a rustic, wood restaurant with an open view of the square, grabbed a poker from the fireplace, and ran back out to face the pending battle head-on.

"Dang... that's a LOT of Heartless." He swung his poker around at the Heartless trying to encircle him, obliterating them, oddly. Usually it took more than a hit from a dull, metal object to kill them. He dismissed it as he thwacked again and again, hearing a dull sound like metal hitting a padded wall, along with a jarring of his right arm.

He quickly found himself surrounded, with nowhere to go. Nobody was within distance to save him. "... ha, I'm not going down without a fight, Heartless! Prepare yourselves; hah!" he swung at the nearest Heartless, splattering two of them against the pavement. However, for every one he killed, two more replaced it. He kept fighting, as he wasn't really the type to give up. He soon grew tired from all the fighting, and got a little bit sluggish; that was his downfall.

A sharp claw sticking through his gut and a pain in his back alerted him to his wound; who wouldn't realize they were dying with a claw in them, seemingly burning you to shreds. He crumpled, helpless. The last thing he remembered were the Heartless swarming over him with their scrabbling, scratchy claws. Scritch, scratch... scritch, scratch... scritch... scratch... scritch... He embraced the darkness flooding over him, his demise at last come to meet him. He'd had a good, long run, but death had finally caught up with him...

~*~*~*~

After seemingly hours, he found himself in a dark and empty space, stars glittering all around him like glitter on a child's paper after they'd gotten into the craft cabinet. It was space, the frontier that he knew all too well, having made his living there for the past five years. A voice called to him distantly over the great black expanse:

"Tomoshibi, your time to part from the mortal world would be here... however... we still have need of you. Take your namesake weapon; this weapon of light: The Keyblade. With it, vanquish the Heartless and the Nobodies, the ones corrupting the worlds. Fight for those too weak to fight, for those who need your help. Go, Tomoshibi, and save the worlds from darkness."

"But... how?"

"You will know when the time comes."

Tomoshibi's eyes snapped open. Heartless were swarming over him, but he didn't feel pain anymore. Instead, he propped himself up on one arm and got up as the Heartless fell off in droves. He was garbed in a black cloak, his clothes underneath different than the bluejeans, black tee shirt, and white sneakers he had been wearing. Now, he had darker bluejeans, a black button-up shirt with long sleeves, and black sneakers instead of the white, and the shabby goggles he'd been wearing were replaced by nicer ones. Another marked difference was the large weapon in the shape of a key in his right hand. It had a hand-guard in the shape of an octagon, and a long blade, which was hollow in the middle; its end, just before the tip, had serrated little tips like you would find on an old-fashioned key. The Avenger... his mind screamed the words at him. He decided that it was called the Avenger. An apt name, considering the situation in which he attained it.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he muttered, smirking. He tore out among the group of Heartless that surrounded him, obliterating them in twos and threes. Weaving back and forth gracefully, he quickly dispatched the group and moved on to another. "Easy!" he cried as he slaughtered the creatures with ease belying his skill.

 

[Kalseng]

Tal was easily deflecting heartless after heartless, either sending them to splatter against a surface and vanish into whisps of nothing, or just flinging them to a more convenient spot. Tal easily handled most heartless via deflection, simply sending them into other heartless as a form of crowd control. He fired of a Fire spell every once and a while, which either missed completely and sputtered down before they did any serious damage, or engulfed one or two heartless in a firey blast. He then noted someone running up, only armed with a poker stick, trying to beat heartless like old rugs. He was doing well on his own, so Tal figured he would be fine. Tal turned back to the plague of heartless, and froze a few with a well-placed Blizzard.

A silent message to all heartless pierced the air, and they all, including Tal, cocked their heads to see what was going on. The person had been swarmed by heartless, and was now writhing under a pile of them, until he stopped, and gave up. Tal felt his insticts storm, and his primal instincts were put on high alert. Tal crouched down, carefully watching the pile of heartless, who all had stopped moving entirely. Then, all at once, a light blinded them. The man rose, the keyblade in hand. All the heartless hesitated a moment, filled with fear. They snarled as one, and lunged at the man, claws unsheathed, each overcame with anger. Each fell to the might of the keyblade, and Tal himself had a sudden urge to destroy him and take his heart.

However, Tal could not. He turned back to the waves of never-ending heartless, and began tearing through them with Blizzaras and Fires, destroying countless Shadows and Soldiers. This was an easily influenced battle, now that tons of them were being attacked by the Keyblade. However, they began swarming now, as the second wave had broken through the barrier. Tal silently cursed and threw out an Aero in funnel form, which tore through the first wave, eliminating the few that were left due to the combined efforts of the heartless and humans. They were winning. They were going to save Traverse Town.

...

Save Traverse Town?

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"The Keybearer. Took you long enough to show up."

It didn't take the flash of light, nor sight to tell Shigai that the Keyblade had arrived. There were three very distinct things that did tell him. The first was that this mysterious third person's heart was like a beacon, a signal of light, strength and courage. A heart that was completely and utterly light, that darkness couldn't touch. The second, the keyblade itself let off its own 'aura'. It did not scare Shigai, but it did put him a little on edge. The third, the Heartless were all scared of it. And their moment's hesitation was all that he needed.

"Time to stop this tide of Heartless," Shigai roared, throwing his spear like a javelin at the door. Upon impact, it forced the door to close again, blocking out even more Heartless that were trying to break through, to feast on the number of hearts that were just ready to be taken. As the spear that was in the door faded away, Shigai summoned another one, perfectly identical to the last. With a flourish, he cut through a couple of nearby Heartless, glad to see that their numbers were decreasing somewhat more rapidly now.

"I'm a bit tired of this now," he muttered, spinning his spear expertly. He thrust the blade into the ground, releasing a small wave of darkness that burned through the nearest of the Shadows, then yanked his spear from the ground again, lunging through another Heartless before spinning to strike one that wanted to attack from behind. Yes, their numbers were decreasing, but Shigai would get tired quickly if they didn't decrease faster than they were doing. Gritting his teeth, and stabbed through another Shadow and slashed outwards through a Soldier.

 

[Chadwyck]

Ryo had lived in Traverse town for many years, his world had been overtaken by the darkness when he was just a boy. He didn't understand how he came to this world at first, he'd been alone when he arrived. From what he could tell, none of his friends or family from his home world made it out alive, a painful thought that he blocked from his mind long ago. It was as his master always said, mourning the dead wouldn't do them any good, the only way to avenge them was to stop the darkness from overtaking even more of the other worlds.

He had been up high on the rooftops in Third District when the Heartless broke through the seal protecting First District, he had been dealing with a few small numbers of shadows that were unfortunate enough to cross his path. He noticed the sudden flood of darkness that rushed toward the gate to First District and could only assume the worst. He donned his black jacket that had red crosses roughly painted on either arm and rushed off toward the gate.

By the time he arrived at the gate the Heartless were already breaking through, he saw a large number of them stricken with a blizzard spell that froze them on the spot, and he watched as more of them were skewered and sliced by another man with a spear. There were people fighting to stop the swarm and they were doing well on their own, though they couldn't keep doing so for long, at least not with only the two of them. Ryo held his hands out before him and within them a blade that appeared to be made of frozen flames appeared, it was shaped like flames but shone like gems, where it's hilt would be was the handle of a gun: a gunblade.

He was poised to join the fighting, until he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of another man being overrun with Heartless. Why hadn't he noticed him there before? He watched as the man was devoured by the darkness, another person to add to the long list of lives lost to the Heartless. However, almost immediately after he fell, a bright light emanated from where he had been, and he arose wielding the Keyblade. "The Keybearer." Ryo whispered to himself as he saw his dreams of vengeance unfolding before his eyes.

With the aid of the Keyblade the three fighters began to turn the tide and the gate was shut, and the number of Heartless began to decrease rapidly, though it wasn't enough. They needed help, and he was always ready to slaughter any Heartless that he met. He rushed toward the fighting and joined in almost seamlessly, slashing through a number of Shadows and Soldiers, reducing them to nothing. "Hopefully you guys don't mind the help," He said with a smile as he slashed through three more Shadows.

"Back to the darkness, wretched fiends!" He yelled as he drove his blade through another group of Shadows. The Heartless were quickly diminishing in numbers. They had to end this fast and make sure the barrier would still hold the number of Heartless still trying to get through. He slashed through another Soldier, releasing a wave of fire from his gunblade that overtook even more of the Heartless behind the Soldier.

 

[Kalseng]

In a sudden gust of wind, it seemed the door had been easily slammed shut with a simple spear thrust. Tal turned sharply, and saw the closed off number of weak heartless. The teen was doing excellently. However, something was odd. He materialized a new spear. Tal shook his head, realizing that it could have been anything. Maybe he hadn't seen the spear. No. It was no issue now. The teen let loose a dark energy wave, which obliterated the heartless.

He was not human.

Before Tal could even process this, some crazy, gunblade-wielding maniac jumped from a rooftop, and started swinging wildly, destroying any poor heartless that got close enough to his swinging range. Tal pitied the ones who thought they could make it. The stranger was going insane now, and had destroyed five heartless, and released a wave of fire. Tal jumped back, barely dodging the wave. This fighter was insane, by most standards, but he was helping, and Tal wasn't going to complain about the extra help.

They weren't in numbers, and they were now afraid of the keyblade. Tal smiled a sly smile, and placed his two hands forward. It was almost a silent command, and all heartless should have known. They had seen this before. He concentrated a moment, trying to gather the right energies in the right spots for this attack. He soon had the right magic focused, and a heartless leaped forward. The poor thing was entirely crushed. Tal's Gravity spell slammed down on all the incoming heartless, and they were all pinned down. This took away a good chunk of their health, leaving them open for even a weak mass attack.

Tal gestured to the man with the gunblade, and let a puff of flame leave his fingertips in an attempt to sign out this guys fire-wave attack.

Whatever omnipresent or omnipotent being is watching this fight is probably enjoying himself way too much.

 

[Chibi]

(Thanks El)

Blackness, complete and utter blackness. That was what filled her vision now. It seemed to go on forever, and it appeared to not be stopping anytime soon.

Serena tried to move her limbs, or any part of her body, but they would not obey her; it was as if she had turned to stone. The only thing she could do was think and remember. But what could she remember anyway? Monsters. That was the first thing that flashed through her mind, evil, dark monsters that swarmed the land and tore up everything in their path. Any person that was unlucky enough to be seen was instantly set upon and gruesomely killed.

But was that the only thing she could remember besides black monsters with heart symbols on them? Two familiar faces flashed by her memories and were gone in a flash. Spike and Tasmira, her two cousins that were eighteen and nine years old respectively. Oh god, what happened to them?! She didn't remember any of the monsters getting to them; they were in fact, with her when the blackness came. They had all been running with a little Conestoga wagon that they had called home for many years of their life. Then, it seemed that the world just ripped apart and this accursed blackness came.

Suddenly, there seemed to be solid ground beneath her. Solid enough to make her back ache. She tried to open her eyes and found out that her muscles seemed to be obeying her brain again, and her eyes fluttered open. Her irises were a deep, ocean blue, like when you look over the railing of a boat into deep water, but instead of seeing the bottom, there is an endless plain of blue. The first thing she noticed that she was on her back, and she was in an alley. Sitting up so suddenly that she startled herself, she looked at her surroundings. This was not her hometown, and she had never been here before. Above her head, a star in the sky flickered, before it vanished like a candle being blown out.

Serena got shakily to her feet, her white hair rippled smoothly down her body until it was just at her thighs. Her black cloak billowed gently before cupping itself around her body which had on a black tunic and tight black pants. Her knee-high boots were shaking along with her legs as she struggled to stand; her hands were covered in a fingerless black glove that groped for a handhold on the wall. Usually these were not worn by an acrobatics and street performers like herself, but she and her cousins had not been entertaining the peoples' mind with little carnival tricks before their world literally was ripped apart. The alley went on for about ten yards before turning to face either a street or courtyard which Serena could not see. The wall to her right was about nine feet tall, with some metal trash cans at its base; the wall to her left was much higher, with a few discarded cardboard boxes keeping it company.

Although her location was not what worried her at the moment, it was the sounds she heard. Screaming of panic-stricken people and a horrible clicking noise that was making her sick with dread. She had heard that sound before, and would not forget it any time soon. The clicking sounded again, although this time it was so close to her that her heart momentarily forgot how to beat. Three figures appeared at the entrance of the alley, one was taller than the other two.

Two looked similar to a beetle, with the same body shape and the "antennae" poking out of their heads, each had a pair of innocent, yellow eyes, yet there was nothing innocent about the devilishly sharp claws that they bore. The third one was very humane in shape, with a red and blue suit and a "helmet" of sorts hiding its face, behind its open visor was another pair of friendly looking yellow eyes. Serena glanced down and saw a red-tipped claw on each of its ten fingers. The most familiar thing though, beside the clicking sounds they were making, was the back heart with a red cross through it that was imprinted on the taller one's chest.

Serena's first instinct was to run, for she had seen herself what these..."things" did to a person when they caught up with them, and she had no desire to meet that fate. But, there was nowhere to run, so, she had to fight. She reached her hand towards her hip, where she kept her sword in case of robbers, and once again felt her heart stop. It wasn't there.

"Shit." She murmured as she remembered what she had done with it, left it in the Conestoga because she was about to fall asleep, and she always kept it within arm's reach. Great, now she was in trouble.

Almost seeming to sense her predicament, the monsters began moving slowly towards her, wanting to see the terror build up as death drew near. Boy were they in for a surprise. Serena glanced to her left at the trash cans, then back at the monsters. She gasped as they rushed toward her, jeez they were fast! Maybe they sensed something that she was going to do. Maybe they just got tired of waiting. In any case, Serena's was just cut drastically short. She jumped on top of the trash cans, the leaped up with all her might, kicking the trash cans onto the monsters as she went.

Below her there was a screech, it was inhumane, so piercing loud that it hurt Serena's ears; to her it almost sounded like metal being ripped apart. It came from directly below her, whether it was from anger or pain, she could not tell. Then, through some source of hidden insane energy, Serena caught the top of the brick wall and hauled herself up. In front of her was what looked like a roof, it was five feet away. Serena braced her legs and jumped. A flash of silver caught her eyes and she turned her head to see the source, but there was nothing there.

Crashing onto the roof brought her back to reality. She had landed on her feet and was about to face plant herself onto the roof when her arms shot out and took the blow instead. Risking a glance back, she saw the helmeted monster leaping onto the wall to pursue her. Jeez they could jump high! Taking no time, she ran off, careful to keep her balance on the uneven rooftop. One of the beetle things suddenly emerged from the shadows in front of her to bar her path. Her boot came up and kicked it in its jaw before she could even register what her leg was doing.

Serena suddenly saw a balcony below her to the left. A good stopping point. She all but jumped off the roof, turned around, grabbed the railing of the gutter, and swung herself in. It was a restaurant, she could tell by the elegantly designed tables and the gourmet food on them, any time she would have stopped for a snack, but if she did then she herself was likely to become a snack. Scanning the room, she snatched up a silver platter that butlers often carried and lifted a big metal lid up to reveal some dish that could only be designed by a master chef and the usual chatter. She turned around and saw the helmet monster again, taking the same way in that she id, hanging by the gutter. Serena stopped; if she could time this just right then the helmet thing would not bother her any time soon. The creature let go of the gutter and landed on the railing, looked at her, then bunched its leg muscles in preparation to jump. That's when Serena struck.

The platter flew through the air as she hurled it like a Frisbee, the creature jumped and was actually in the air when it hit. It landed squarely in the space where the visor should of been, and hit it with enough force Serena was surprised that its head didn't come off. It did however fly backwards and off the railing, tumbling to the ground below. There was a distant crunch, and just after it, two of the little things were back. Holding out her hand, Serena cast a Fire spell at them. Carnival tricks also included magic tricks, and Serena knew every magic spell, even a Blizzara. The fireball of death hit the one on the left; the one Serena had kicked, from the way one of its antennas was bent out of shape. With a screech loud enough to alert the whole planet, the creature was hit and burst into wisps of black smoke. But now she was going to have more soon. Serena cast a Blizzara at the other one, freezing it solid, when more of the things began appearing over the railing.

"Crap. One monster infested world to another." Serena muttered, crackling her knuckles.

(Cuz KH needs more women dangit. I was going to make it longer, but time is something that I don't have at the moment, which is why there could be some mistakes, but I'll check those later.).

Edit: Fixed all the typos my comp. picked up.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Shigai noticed the movement before any of his companions, another person who was being pursued by Heartless. Now, helping other people was not his forté, the only reason he was fighting now was because if he tried to escape, the Heartless could follow and infest his destination. However, this person looked like they were really in trouble, and he had an appearence to uphold right now - he was trying to appear as a human, and humans would help people in need. However, arriving near this person was not a simple matter of walking. Gritting his teeth, he gestured behind him, a portal of Darkness appearing, and he stepped through it, closing it before any more Heartless could pursue.

Perfect placement. He appeared right next to the female, spear raised.
"Don't be alarmed," he said to the girl. "I'm not your enemy." Spinning his spear, he shot at the railing, spun and slashed through the Shadows. Quickly, he jumped back and pointed the tip of the blade at the Heartless, releasing a number of burning, blue-and-black orbs at the next wave which exploded upon impact, destroying those too. Landing, he felt the boot of a Soldier make contact with his face, sending him staggering. As soon as he recovered, he turned and slashed through the Soldier that had attacked him, then noticed the lack of Heartless. They weren't gone, but there weren't many left.

"Sorry to fight and run," Shigai said. "But I'm needed at the gate." He re-opened the portal, and stepped through, arriving back at the door to the Second District.

 

[Artiste]

The heartless were, at last, thinning out in ranks. A white spear had pierced the door and, by sheer force from the one who threw it, shut it tight. Tomoshibi returned his attention to the task at hand; eliminating the remaining Heartless. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a spark of black, laced with a deep purple; a portal of darkness. He'd read about it, but never thought he'd see it used. That man of many spears was a Nobody. No doubts about it. Though, when Tomoshibi saw the man pop up next to a woman in distress, who was casting spells desperately to avoid having her heart stolen, and start attacking the Heartless, he couldn't help but be confused; Nobodies and Heartless were meant to destroy, not the opposite.

He was snapped back to reality by scratching claws and flying boots as the Heartless attacked him. He reacted by doing a series of back-flips, a feat he never would've been able to attempt before, let alone complete successfully. As he came to his feet from the last flip, he instinctively flung his Keyblade at the nearest Heartless, which had a boomerang effect and destroyed several more along with it. Strike Raid... the Keyblade was seemingly speaking to Tomoshibi... weird.

He dodged more claws and feet, and kept on fighting more and more Heartless. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Nobody obliterate more Heartless, thereby saving the woman. Tomoshibi, however, still had around twenty Heartless to himself. He went into a complicated series of blows, one after another, in rapid-fire fashion. Ars Arcanum... again, the Keyblade 'spoke.'

More claws and feet, plus about five minutes, and he had downed around ten of the Heartless; they were going on the defensive more now. He went into 'Ars Arcanum' again, but at the end of it, a massive energy filled up inside of him, and he leaped into the air, high over the battlefield. He pointed his Keyblade at an angle towards the ground, and released the energy at once. Literally hundreds of beams flew out of his Keyblade and covered the Heartless around the battlefield, obliterating every last one, and it also threw Tomoshibi twenty feet higher than he already was. He could see Traverse Town in its entirety; the Heartless were gone from the First District, and all there was in the empty streets happened to be the Nobody, the woman he had saved, and the Heartless spellcaster. Tomoshibi didn't know how he knew, but he could innately sense that the Nobody was, in fact, a Nobody, and likewise for the Heartless; he could also sense that the woman was a human, like himself.

He started falling, all energy lost. He didn't know how to save himself from around a thirty-foot drop. His instincts saved his butt today; he flung his arms out in the air, the Keyblade fanned out, and started riding on the air currents, like magic. He didn't know how he did it, and doubted that he would ever be able to replicate the achievement. However, he was still flying! What a rush; he couldn't believe it. He flew around a little bit, showing off to the three others who had fought back the Heartless, and then descended. When Tomoshibi's feet touched the ground, the Keyblade disappeared from his hand, and he fell to one knee. "That... was tiring," he muttered.

"You have done well, Tomoshibi... you have made the Keybearers of the past proud."

"Thank you..."

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Shigai looked at the Keybearer, and glanced at the Keyblade. He had been foolish. He should have left the woman to die instead of helping her. Surely, the Keybearer would know that he was not human. However, that didn't concern him as much as it should. After watching him fight, despite his apparent skill, he knew little of the true nature of the Keyblade, and of hearts. He shrugged.
"Thanks for the help," he said to the Keybearer. He did not address the Heartless, merely shot a distrusting look at him. "I don't doubt I'll be seeing you again."

Shigai promptly turned and walked away. He was glad for one thing about Traverse Town - side and back alleys were commonplace. It was only a few minutes before he found an ideal place to hide and open a Dark portal. He stepped into the swirling black-and-purple pathway, and found himself in the Realm of Darkness. It was different to him than it would be for Heartless or humans. It was an endless space with no visible barriers above or below him. However, he could still walk as though there was a floor. All around, the symbol was there. The cross, the heart, silver and threatening. The symbol of the Nobody. Shigai just stepped forwards, walking with determination until he stepped through another Dark portal.

His new location was darker, but not pitch-black. Torches were suspended on walls, their flames flickering and burning endlessly, casting long shadows of anyone who was stood around. The room, a rather sizeable room more like a hall, or a stage, was made of an unusual silver that did not reflect light as brightly as it should. The room was not square, it was more circular, but still not a perfect circle. Eight chairs, more like thrones, were around the perimeter. Only three of them were currently occupied.

"Did you meet with the individual?" One of the people said. All three of them were hidden by shadows.
"No, I was... sidetracked," Shigai replied.
"By what, exactly?" A second person said.
"Heartless. Traverse Town is a breeding ground for them," Shigai said.
"And you couldn't fight them off?" The first person asked, almost scoffing at Shigai's apparent incompetence.
"Not without revealing myself. You said I was supposed to be undercover," Shigai countered.
"But you didn't stay undercover, did you?" The third person said slyly. "You openly used the power of Darkness to fight. You think those humans couldn't put two and two together?"
"They had no clue. Not even the Keybearer could-"
"The Keybearer? Was he there?" The second person demanded.
"Not at first. Apparently the Keyblade has chosen another master," Shigai explained.
"And you didn't dispose of him?" The second person accused.
"No, because-"

Shigai heard the movement immediately, and jumped out of the way. A split second later, an overlarge fan was where he was stood, lodged in the ground. Its owner was striding towards Shigai, looking furious. The owner was female. She had long, firey red hair that flowed down her back, and red-tinted sunglasses covering her eyes. She was wearing somewhat revealing clothes - a vivid red, sleeveless crop-top that exposed her midriff, and black jeans, falling to her black martial-artist shoes.

"You want to calm down, Kasai," Shigai suggested, summoning his spear.

"You had the perfect chance to rid us of this pest and you didn't! Why not?!" Kasai demanded, wrenching her fan from the ground. It was a rather large fan, that was as wide as her legs were long. Each part of it was made out of a metal symbol. The symbol of a Nobody. As Shigai knew, she took pride in what she was, with a Nobody tattoo on the small of her back, with the number "6" in the middle of it. She threw the fan, holding a chain that was connected to its handle, and sent it flying at Shigai.

"Because it is an opportunity," Shigai replied calmly, holding his spear strongly and guarding against the fan, though it did make him slide backwards slightly. Kasai pulled the chain, and the fan returned to her.

"What dream of yours is this?" Kasai snapped, snapping her fan close. He gripped the chain and twirled the fan around her threateningly. Shigai didn't drop his guard.

"The Keybearer does not believe me to cause him any harm," Shigai said calmly, his eyes making contact with Kasai's. "If I can get him to trust me, I can study the Keyblade and the qualities of the Keybearer. With this knowledge, who can pose a threat to us?" Kasai considered this, but she still didn't look convinced.

"Kasai, stand down," one of the still-hidden individuals said. "Shigai has a point. If he can befriend the Keybearer, we can arm ourselves with the knowledge of what the Keyblade is. We could make our own Keyblades. No one would be able to stop us." Kasai tutted, and turned to return to her seat.

"Shigai, you may proceed with this plan. We expect regular reports."

"And I assume you'll tell the others?" Shigai asked.

"Naturally."

Shigai nodded, bowed and opened a portal behind him, stepping through it. Kasai spoke again.
"You really expect this plan of his to work? Keybearers don't befriend Nobodies or Heartless."
"He has a chance, but if he fails, it is of little concern to us."

 

[Chibi]

Serena had been shooting out every magic spell she could think of at a blinding pace, yet it was not enough. When the monsters seemed to be close enough to strike her, there was suddenly another person next to her.

"Don't be alarmed," the person, male, told her. "I am not your enemy." He pulled a spear of awesome impression out of nowhere and began slashing at the monsters, obliterating them with blue-and-black orbs that exploded on impact. Serena was awestruck.

The only time the man was hit when the boot of a helmeted monster struck his chin, before Serena could even utter a spell, he had recovered and slashed at the monster, destroying it. The man looked around, as if surveying the situation.

"Sorry to fight and run, but I'm needed at the gate." He said, and a wall of darkness came up in front of him. He stepped through it and disappeared completely, the darkness vanished with him.

Gate? Serena thought to herself. What gate? She rushed forward to the railing, freezing three creatures with a Blizzara and peered over the railing. Another person and some shady-looking thing were fighting the leftover monsters in front of two huge double doors. One was holding what looked like a giant key and wacking the enemies over the heads with it. He suddenly leapt into the air, pointed his key at the ground, and shot out hundreds of beams of light from its tip. Holy crap... Serena thought as the beams of light impaled the creatures below it, they even shot past her and struck the ones still surrounding her. With shrieks that made Serena cover her ears from pain, the monsters vanished. Looking around, Serena saw no reason to stay up here.

She jumped over the railing and cast Aero as she was falling, the wind currents protecting her connected against the ground and stopped her fall. She got up and dusted herself off and heard her name being called. She turned as felt her heart skip a beat. Spike and Tasmira! Somehow they had gotten to this strange place too! Tasmira literally clung to her waist as she hugged her older cousin.

"Where's the wagon?" Serena asked as she smoothed Tasmira's equally white hair that fell to her shoulders. Spike jerked his thumb to point at something behind him. Prying Tasmira's arms from her waist, Serena made over to where Spike pointed. Sure enough, in the beginning of an alley was a large wagon with a dirty white canvas over it. Home. Reaching in, Serena felt around until she felt a familiar belt and sheath and dragged it towards her. The sheath and belt were both black leather, a gold handle protruded from the sheath and had four guards on each side of the hilt.

Buckling the belt around her waist, Serena walked over the the guy that had the impressive key. She dropped her cloak over her weapon so that only a part of the hilt showed and the tip of the covered balde lifted up a section of the back of her cloak.

"That was...impressive." Serena said to the guy with the key, the key had disappeared and the man who weilded was on one knee, he was either hurt or tired. "What were those things anyway? And are you alright?"

 

[Artiste]

Both the Nobody and the woman spellcaster addressed him, but he only gave brief answers in reply.  He was far too tired for chitchat.

Hours later, as he stood at the docks fully rested, a large, metallic space for parking Gummi Ships, just inside the extremely large door in the First District of Traverse Town, he reviewed everything that happened within the last hour.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of Heartless had swarmed into the First District, only to be repelled by a Nobody, a Heartless, a man with a Gunblade, a woman who casted a few spells, and Tomoshibi himself.  He had tried to summon the Keyblade again after the fight, but he couldn't duplicate the summoning, which annoyed him.  He had given up and supposed that it would only come while he or somebody else was in distress. 

"Tomoshibi," the gruff voice of his employer called out. "Come into my office for a sec.  I need to tell you about your next destination."  Tomoshibi did as his employer ordered, and walked into the office, which was totally different from the metallic, echoing docks outside; it had wooden planks which served as the wallpaper, and wooden flooring; there was a picture of his employer standing with a woman and two children who could only be his family.  There was a birch desk situated in a corner, which the boss promptly sat in, while waving at Tomoshibi to sit on a leather armchair that was situated in front of the desk.

"So, boss, where'm I headed next?" Tomoshibi asked.

"You're headed to a place that I know you love very much..."

Tomoshibi's heart was soaring as he said that.  "Twilight Town?!" he asked in jubilation.

"Yep." The boss smiled.

Tomoshibi threw an arm up in the air in triumph and said, "Yes!  Thank you, sir!  I'll get flyin' the second the ship's loaded up."

"Good.  Have a nice time."

Tomoshibi promptly exited the office, and leaped in the air happily at the prospect of going to Twilight Town.  He had grown up in Twilight Town, and was extremely excited about going back.  He ran to the dock where his ship was, well, docked, and asked the guy who supervised packing the cargo whether or not she was ready to fly.  Oddly enough, his ship was named The Avenger, and looked quite a bit like the Keyblade, in its color scheme.  It was packed with guns and lasers, not to mention missiles, just in case he got into a firefight.

"Yeah, she's about ready t'fly.  Just gotta fuel her up, and she'll be 'bout ready."

"Awesome," Tomoshibi replied. "Thanks, man." He gave him a thumbs up before darting into the ship deftly.  Five minutes later, takeoff.  He was flying again.  Going through space at breakneck speeds, performing expert moves such as back-flips and shots fired at asteroids while corkscrewing.

Within an hour, Twilight Town came into view.  Tomoshibi had long tired of doing tricks in midair, and was now cruising pleasurably along.  As Twilight Town came into view, he sped up until he was in range of docking.  He slowed, and actually docked, and left the cargo to be unloaded by the dock workers.  He took to the back alleys and streets, feeling rather nostalgic as he wandered.  He was home.  His family had long been gone, having died in a Heartless attack.  This was why he hated them so.  He fought back memories of it which threatened to make him start crying, and continued his alley wanderings as to drive it from his memory.

As he was leaning on a low wall at Central Station, looking out over the sea, he heard a small noise behind him.  He could sense it; a Nobody.  By its amount of power, he guessed it was a Dusk.  Several more came along to its aid, along with Creepers, and quickly surrounded Tomoshibi.  He had nothing to fight with, so he was a sitting duck unless the Keyblade came to his aid again.  He willed with all of his might for it to come, but it didn't come.  He instead broke through the ranks and started running, heading for the center of town, where someone would notice and give him some help.  It was to no avail, however, as there was nobody around.  Odd... very odd.  Tomoshibi was surrounded yet again.  There were more now.  In less than ten seconds, Tomoshibi had already acquired several nicks and scratches of varying depths, and hadn't even dispatched one.  His lack of Keyblade was really showing now.  Again, he was overwhelmed by the droves of enemies.  The darkness overtook him. 

The infinite blackness, broken only by pinpricks of light that were the stars.  It was overwhelmingly empty.  "Tomoshibi... you have need of our weapon again?" said the voice from before.  The same who had given the Keyblade!

"It's not my fault; the Heartless and Nobodies are following me.  And I can't summon the Keyblade!"

"I know.  We all know, and have decided to permanently give you the Key.  You are the Key to saving the worlds, Tomoshibi.  You are the Keybearer." The last words were emphasized heavily.

His eyes snapped open, and a blast of light flooded from him.  Again he rose, the Avenger in hand.  He was the Keybearer.

 

[Chadwyck]

The Gravity spell that crushed many of the Heartless was very powerful, whoever or whatever this thing was certainly had an aptitude for magic. Ryo turned and slashed through another Shadow and looked back at the magic wielder, who was gesturing with fire from his fingertips. Ryo could guess at what it was suggesting, and he smirked to himself as he swung his gunblade and released another wave of fire, the wave overtook the weakened Heartless dismissing them all into wisps of nothing but smoke.

Before Ryo could fully appreciate the fact that the number of Heartless was depleting rapidly, he noticed that the man with the spear had disappeared. He turned and saw Heartless flooding toward a restaurant within the First District, along with spells that were being cast by a woman who was their apparent target. What's even stranger: the man who had been fighting with the spear was fighting beside her though no one had seen him leave. The questions arising in Ryo's mind were answered when the man appeared next to the gate again out of a portal of darkness. So he wasn't human.

A Soldier jumped at Ryo, he barely managed to impale the creature with his gunblade. No time to question the spear wielders motives now, at least he was helping fight the Heartless. The numbers may have been diminishing, but there were still many Heartless in the District, though they weren't as tightly packed in one mass of attackers hellbent on stealing hearts. The Keybearer was handling himself rather well, too, taking down multiple Heartless at once, good, the better to fit into Ryo's own plans of revenge. Suddenly, the keybearer was up in the air and it was raining down beams of light, each one dismissing a Heartless into oblivion.

Quickly surveying the situation, and at last satisfied that the Keyblade had dispatched all of the Heartless, Ryo sheathed his gunblade in a graceful motion that looked like it suited his pale countenance, he removed a strand of black hair from in front of his violet eyes and wiped the front of his dark red dress shirt. He saw the spear wielding man exchange a few words with the Keybearer before leaving abruptly, walking down an alley.

Then the woman who had been casting spells at the Heartless came over to the exhausted Keybearer and began to speak with him as well. Ryo looked at the magic adept thing and nodded at it to show his appreciation for it's help before he turned and saw the Keybearer walking away, "Wait!" He called after the Keybearer but it was no use, he wasn't stopping. He approached the woman who had been speaking with him last, "Where is he going?" He demanded, no use for pleasantries, he would follow the Keybearer to the end of this world, and even across the universe if the need arose.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"So I take it the Keybearer has gone, then?" Shigai said, stepping through a dark portal that had appeared near Ryo. "You have no reason to fear me," he added, realising that he was showing his Dark qualities. "I'm not your enemy, and fighting ain't my thing. Not against humans."

"I'll explain, since you're probably confused," Shigai said, nodding to Ryo and Serena. "I'm a Nobody. But I'm still not your enemy. Not all Nobodies are automatically 'evil'." He did air quotes with his fingers on the word 'evil'. "Some of us still have our minds. We're the ones that remember what it was like to have a Heart. I honestly have no issues with humans. Only Heartless. I'm here researching the qualities of Hearts."

"Now that the Keybearer has shown himself once more, my research can be taken to another level. Now, you," Shigai looked directly at Ryo. "Why are you seeking the Keybearer?"

 

[Chibi]

"That was a little rude..." Serena commented as the guy weilding the key walked off after only mumbling a few words to her and disappeared down the sreet.

"Wait!" Someone called behind her. She turned around and saw a man running towards her. He was glancing after the retreating key guy. He stopped next to her and cast a hopeless look after the key guy. "Where is he going?" The man demanded her, looking her in the eyes.

Serena sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "If I knew I would tell you," she answered.

"So I take it the Keybearer has gone then?" Literally not fifteen seconds after Serena's comment, another glob of darkness appeared and the spear man that had saved her earlier stepped out. "You have no reason to fear me," he explained again, "I'm not you enemy, and fighting ain't my thing. Not against humans."

Serena raised and eyebrow. This guy looked pretty humane to her. Maybe this was something that everyone knew that she didn't, or maybe she did know something but it was going right over her head.

"I'll explain, since you're probably confused," the man went on, nodding towards them. He certainly wasn't wrong in that category. "I'm a Nobody."

A what?! Serena almost screamed. Yep, now this was something she had no clue about.

"Not all Nobodies are automatically 'evil'." The man (or Nobody?) went on, making the appropriate gestures with his fingers. He had said something before that, but Serena's mind had gone briefly blank. "Some of us still have our minds, we're the ones that remember what it was like to have a heart. I honestly have no issue with humans. Only Heartless. I'm reseaching the qualities of Hearts."

Heartless? Studying Hearts? Remembering the feeling of having a heart?! Does this guy not have a heart or something?! Serena's mind screamed. She rubbed her temples.

The guy, wait, Nobody had asked the man next to Serena a question. But she had to say something. "Okay," she said, "sorry to interuppt, but I really don't understand what we're talking about here. Heartless? Nobodies? Not having hearts? I mean, this could just be something I should have known before, but I'm...not exactly the richest person. The only thing I know is magic, performing on the streets, and how to live in the streets. All I remember is those monsters that were here earlier tearing up the town I grew up in, then waking up here with the place being similarly attacked. So would I be burdening you with asking just what is this all about?"

Well that certainly made her feel a little better. She sighed and tapped her foot, suddenly feeling very awkward.

 

[Chadwyck]

Ryo looked away from the girl after she informed him that she didn't know where the Keybearer had gone, "Tch, no help at all." He muttered to himself, crossing his arms. He instinctively reached for his gunblade and held it at the ready when the dark portal opened beside himself and the girl, only after the spear wielder informed them that they had nothing to fear from him did he relax slightly, lowering his blade but keeping it in hand.

So the man was a Nobody, that explained his peculiar powers that he had been destroying Heartless with during the skirmish. Ryo had to chuckle to himself when the Nobody took to explaining that not all Nobodies are evil and talked about remembering when they had hearts. Only after he spoke directly to Ryo did he look at him. Ryo was about to answer the Nobodies question when the woman broke in.

"Okay, sorry to interupt," She blurted out, "But I really don't understand what we're talking about here. Heartless? Nobodies? Not having hearts? I mean, this could just be something I should have known before, but I'm...not exactly the richest person. The only thing I know is magic, performing on the streets, and how to live in the streets. All I remember is those monsters that were here earlier tearing up the town I grew up in, then waking up here with the place being similarly attacked. So would I be burdening you with asking just what is this all about?"

"Okay," Ryo said waving his hand as if shooing away her statements, "Spare your personal story for another time," He said coldly, referring to the background information she'd given them. "Obviously your home was attacked if you arrived in Traverse Town, that's what happens, your world is devoured by the Heartless and somehow you end up here." He stated very straightforward, "As for your questions, Heartless are the result of a heart that is overtaken by darkness without a body. The embodiment of darkness." He said looking at the Nobody again.

"As for the Nobodies, I suppose that it's best to let him answer that, seeing as he is one." He took another step toward the spear wielding Nobody, "And to answer your question. Not that it's any of your concern, but I intend to use the Keybearer to fight the Heartless, I've sought vengeance against them all my life. Much like this street performer my world was devoured by them. Now then, if you'll excuse me I have to catch up to the Keyblade." He said as he started walking away, then he stopped and turned abruptly, "Unless, you know where he's going?" He looked the Nobody in the eyes.

 

[Kalseng]

It didn't take long for Tal to regain his balance. The Keyblade didn't see him as a threat, but regardless of this fact, Tal had to do some serious evasive maneuvers just to stay away from the piercing light beams that threatened to seriously harm the heartless. Tal pulled himself up off the ground, and he let himself slouch a little as he placed his hands in his pockets. A lot had happened, but what had become most prevalent during this fight was the nobody. The nobody had made himself known by not only opening a portal of darkness, something only a nobody or heartless could do, but by also using multiple darkness-based attacks. One could assume that he was human who had sold his soul to the darkness, but then he would have had control of the heartless and sent them away.

Tal slapped his forehead, a common human gesture. He could probably have sent them all away once the keybearer had shown himself. A girl approached the keybearer, asking if he was okay, and what she could do to help. Oh no, thought Tal Don't worry about me. I'm absolutely FINE. He was fine and all, but it still stung to be both overlooked and ignored. The heartless stood, surveying the empty battlefield. They had repelled them well, and with the exception of maybe two scorch marks, it was like nothing had ever happened. Tal decided he should take a look at the two districts for a damage count. Tal did a mix of flying and Aero-flying, launching himself up onto the roof of a nearby building. In a kind of combo-jump, he was propelled into the second district. He quickly got the hang of it, and was jumping with ease and accuracy.

He was now atop the bell tower, perfectly balanced on one foot, the other supplying little help other than a balancing weight. The heartless had migrated away from the First District door, and were heading back to their places or simply vanishing into thin air. None of them would know what he had done. They were almost like goldfish. They could maybe remember a day, if they tried, but few of them did. They wouldn't remember a thing. Tal gave a creepy, ear-to-ear heartless grin, and let himself drop to the ground, cushioning himself with an Aero.

Tal felt the keybearer slowly leaving, until he hit a burst of speed. The keybearer had left Traverse Town, possibly even for good. Tal slowly walked the streets of Second District, thinking deeply about his existence. He was an intelligent heartless, this was true. He knew advanced magic spells, even for humans. He hadn't whipped them out in the battle for fear of destroying half of the town. A poorly-placed Fira could hurt someone very badly. Even worse was a poorly placed Blizzaga, and that one was very draining.

Tal paced the second districts streets now, in deep contemplation. That fight had explained a lot to him. He now knew who the keybearer was, and more importantly, what it could do. It seemed as though the keyblade itself was made almost of pure light and energy, comprised solely of those elements. Heartless were only hearts overcome with darkness, so they were its opposite, and should, as such, be afraid of it. However, what if used properly, he could revert back to a human?

Tal stopped midstep, his yellow, fiendish eyes becoming large. His black face went pale, if that's even possible, and he felt a lump appear in his throat, sheerly out of anticipation. Tal needed one of these keyblades, or at least be near it. Maybe he could get the keybearer's help in becoming human. He could become human again. He could feel emotion and compassion, he wouldn't tremble when bright light hit him, he could stand before the keyblade and not quake with fear, his dark heart could feel... Tal almost instantly collapsed. He was a heartless. One of darkness. Could an object of pure light help him? Tal didn't want to think that. Positive thoughts. It would help him. He could feel again, he could stand again, he could be human again.

Just then, a surge of darkness attracted his attention. Tal felt someone traversing one of the two known dark realms. Tal immediately knew who it was. That nobody. Maybe he could help. No, that was ridiculous. Nobodies and heartless didn't work together. However, if a heartless was looking for a keyblade to help him, couldn't a nobody and a heartless work together? Tal hesitated a moment before his resolve soldified. He needed some help.

Tal opened his own dark portal into the realm of darkness, and took his place within it. It was dark, devoid of all color albeit a few splotches of dark blue, red, or purple. Tal briskly walked through it, taking maybe four steps to his destination. It was like a tiny, compressed universe. He opened a portla and stuck his head through it, currently staring at the feet of those he had met earlier. He assumed they had all seen him, and he took to placing his hands on the ground. He concentrated a blizzard into his fingertips, and he drew a few explanatory symbols in a thin layer of frost on the pavement. After finishing his drawing, he gave a tip of the hat, and sank back into the realm of darkness.

As he returned to the realm, he actually looked around. A few idiotic heartless were dancing about the realm, nearly unable to pass through the various protections against them. Tal was so powerful when it came to negating protections that he had not once, but twice now, passed through the protections surrounding First District without being torn to shreds. He felt the presence of the keyblade, and he sprinted to the presence. All of a sudden, the presence spiked. He must have drawn out the keyblade once again. Tal could barely even feel his feet touch the ground. The keybearer was in trouble. He needed to help him.

Tal opened a dark portal the second he thought he was close enough. Apparently close enough was also on top of a building. Tal had sprinted through the portal without looking, and was now falling. He was plummeting, more like it. A sea of greys, silvers, and whites seemed to surround the keybearer like a giant maw of iron closing in on a struggling bear's paw. Tal was on his toes, well, not at that precise moment perse, but still, the idea was there. Tal quickly threw out an Aerora as he fell, and the giant funnel-shaped section of wind seemed to perfectly clear a landing spot for him by cutting up and throwing the various nobodies, who promptly obliterated into nothing as they hit the walls and floors.

Tal cut through the waves of nobodies, making his way to the center of the monster mosh pit, using his weak claws to shove various nobodies out of the way. Tal quickly made his way to the center, and slipped around back of the keybearer. A Dusk lunged at the two, and Tal threw up a reflect, sending the nobody flying into three others, and promptly taking out a small section of the mob. Tal figured it might be a good idea to inform the poor guy of what was going on through words rather than having him work off of assumption.

"I'm here to help."

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"The Heartless are what appear when a person loses their heart to the darkness. The heart is overrun by darkness and leaves its former body, creating a new body, a new 'shell' of sorts. They have only one real purpose - to turn as many people as possible into Heartless. They desire hearts, and they have no issues with taking them by force," Shigai explained to the girl.

"Nobodies, on the other hand, are what's left over. The body still feels an attachment to life, and gets up, acting again. We are without hearts," Shigai continued. "The most common Nobodies, the Dusks, are the Nobodies that lost their minds. Most of those breeds are. I'm one of the select few with a heart strong enough to keep my mind. There is also the fact that Nobodies do not desire hearts like the Heartless do. The lesser breeds seek only to make people like them - emotionless, empty shells, but don't worry, I'm not about to try that with you."

"And as for where the Keybearer is, I could tell you, but it'd be much easier just to show you," Shigai said thoughtfully, gesturing. A portal of darkness appeared behind him. "To get there the quickest way, we must go through the Realm of Darkness. Strong hearts have nothing to fear from a trip through there." With that, Shigai promptly turned and stepped through the portal, and through the Realm of Darkness.

However, when he arrived at Twilight Town, he was not impressed. Nobodies were attacking the Keybearer, and that damnable Heartless was there. He appeared just in time to stop a Nobody from being thrown back by a Reflect spell, saving the ones that would ultimately be destroyed by the impact.

"I hope you don't mean you'll be destroying these Nobodies," Shigai said coldly. He looked around the Nobodies, then gestured, speaking loudly and clearly. "Disappear. Tell whoever sent you not to do it again." Immediately, all of the Nobodies vanished, leaving only fading symbols of the Nobodies behind.

 

[Chibi]

Serena nodded slowly at the Nobody's explanation of a Nobody and Heartless. She took the other man's remark none-too-well, but she didn't show it. But one piece of information stuck out to her; her hometown was destroyed. All in one fell swoop. It wasn't a major loss though. She dispised the place.

"And as for where the Keybearer is, I could tell you, but it'd be much easier just to show you," The man said, gesturing to something behind him. Another dark glob. "To get there the quickest way, we must go through the Realm of Darkness. Strong hearts have nothing to fear from a trip through there."

Realm of Darkness? Serena thought as the man ran off. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. She turned her head at Spike and Tasmira, who were watching her. I'll be back later. Serena gestured in sigh language and ran off before her cousins could ask why and where was she going.

The darkness was beginning to disappear into more wisps of smoke, Serena had to turn sideways to squeeze into it. As soon as she did, she was instantly in another location. The Nobody's voice spoke, and many silver streaks suddenly vanished. They left behind symbols that looked like a mix of a heart and a cross. Perhaps they were Nobodies? They were certainly different from the Heartless.

Looking around from the top of the building she was on, Serena noticed something about the place she was in. It sort of reminded her of her hometown, with the way the sun shone gorgeously on the buildings and the way the sreets were designed. Serena jumped off the building and cast Aero again, the air shield caused her to bouce for a second before landing safely on the ground. She quickly hurrined over to the Keybearer, Nobody, and the Heartless that had been fighting earlier.

OOC- Fix'd it. I think. I was trying to make sense with Kal's description and El's.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

OOC- Chibi, you might want to look at the following things:
My earlier description of the Realm of Darkness.
The last thing that happens when Shigai goes to Twilight Town.

 

[Kalseng]

Tal fell to the ground, his intended attack thrown off by a lack of target. He had been midair, his right claw aimed at a nobody that had gotten a bit too close when they all vanished according to the other nobody's commands. He picked himself up off of the cobblestone road and dusted off his coat which had been covered with a small amount of dust when he hit the old road. His hands subconsciously retreated to Tal's pockets, their only true place where they felt at home. The magical energy that had been tingling over his hands slowly went away, the magic reentering his body, filling him with a warm, happy feeling. The nobody who had banished the other nobodies was standing in front of the magic-casting girl from the previous battle. Tal cocked his head and looked at the two with his large, yellow eyes, each full of curiousity and interest.

"Who? Why?" Tal asked. His strangely young yet deep voice did not carry very far, but it did carry far enough for the two he was questioning to hear. He had not talked this much in almost a year, but he felt that it was all necessary for both practice and communication. At the very least he would finally learn their names and what they were planning on doing with and around the keybearer.

Tal inched a bit closer to the keybearer upon hearing their answers, and he peered cautiously at the keyblade. His right hand pulled itself out of his pocket and reached forward, and index finger carefully extended as he reached towards the shaft of the blade. His hand trembled as neared the blade with baited breath until his finger softly touched the keyblade. He felt washed over with some form of protection, but his fingertip felt the presence of immense light, and Tal retracted his finger, and gingerly placed his hand back into his pocket, gently rubbing the spot where he had come into contact with the keyblade.

 

[Chadwyck]

"... But it'd be much easier to show you." The Nobody had said as he opened the dark portal, and he, the Nobody, and the girl slipped through. The darkness, Ryo thought as he stepped into the portal, following behind the other two, never wanted to see this place again. He looked around at the dark universe expanding around him, it threatened to unearth some memories that Ryo would rather keep buried in the depths of his mind.

Upon exiting the portal, he had to shield his eyes from the sun that was now piercing the sky. The adjustment to the light took a few extra seconds after traveling through the realm of darkness. He emerged in time to see many streaks of silver disappearing leaving behind nothing but a fading symbol. He jumped from the ledge that the exit portal had been on and slowed his fall by slamming his gunblade into the side of the building he had leapt from, sliding down rather than free falling.

He had to release slight chuckle, partly from amusement, but mostly from irritation at seeing the small crowd that surrounded the Keybearer. "So I see that we are all together again." He said surveying the others in front of him. The Keybearer was there, good, the Nobody hadn't been lying, then of course the Nobody and the woman were there too. The surprising thing was that the other magic wielder was there, the way that he looked at the Keyblade with such a mixture of fear and awe.

Of course, Ryo hadn't noticed, but why would he suspect that it was a Heartless? After all it was destroying many of them back at Traverse Town, and it was that fact alone that stayed Ryo's hand, which longed to dismiss the Heartless back to the darkness of oblivion. He figured that, for the sake of gaining the Keybearer's skills for his own use, it wouldn't be wise to give way to his blood lust. "Now that we have all been drawn together again, perhaps we should have proper introductions." He said as formally as possible to hide his aggravation, "I may as well do the honors and start. My name is Ryo." He stated with a slight bow of his head.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Out of the corner of his eye, Shigai noticed one stray Nobody. A Dusk. However, he recognised its movements. It was one of the messenger Nobodies. It would not attack, but at the same time, it would not leave until whoever it was seeking followed it back to its destination.
"Again, I'm needed elsewhere. Keybearer, I have some questions for you next time we meet, assuming we're not fighting for our lives again," he said, turning to the Nobody. On its emblem, it bore the number "5". Someone higher up in the group. Swearing internally, he opened a dark portal and stepped through, reappearing back in the chamber.

This time, all eight thrones were occupied, not just three of them.
"Shigai, you have explaining to do," Kasai snapped from her throne. Shigai shot her a filthy look.
"How do you expect," Shigai said, a hint of impatience in his voice, "me to conduct research on the Keyblade if you keep calling me back here?"
"Don't bullshit us," Kasai snarled. Shigai shrugged.
"You have been summoned regarding your display in Twilight Town," one of the hidden individuals said.
"What display? Stopping your Dusks from ripping the keybearer apart, Sumizome?" Shigai demanded.
"Exactly that," Kasai said. Shigai could hear the smirk in her voice.
"For god's sake, do all of you just not have working brains or something?" Shigai snapped. Then, once again, he heard the noise before he was hit, and jumped out of the way. This time, there was a rather long sword stabbed into the ground, the owner landing next to the blade.

The owner was male, and an intimidating figure. Standing over six foot tall with completely black, spiky hair and with a muscular physique. He was wearing a dark vest-top that showed his well-muscled body and combat pants that were tucked into heavy combat boots.
"Sumizome, you're acting like Kasai," Shigai commented. Again, he jumped out of the way as Kasai threw her fan at him.
"I notice you still haven't explained yourself," Kasai snarled, grabbing her fan and swinging it in a circle above her head. Sumizome also grabbed his weapon, and pointed the tip of the blade at Shigai, who summoned his spear.

"I'm going to research the Keyblade," Shigai said, jumping back again, because Kasai looked like she had every intention of throwing her fan at him.
"That doesn't explain it," Kasai snapped, throwing her fan. Shigai spun his spear expertly, knocking the fan past him, and grabbed the chain. He pulled on the chain, sending Kasai off-balance, ready for whatever Sumizome might try to do.
"So, what, you people think that if Nobodies attack him, he wont start to suspect me of not being a good guy?" Shigai said.
"If he dies in the process, then it just means we have one less Keybearer to worry about," Sumizome said, running at Shigai and swinging his sword down.
"So we have to put up with the next Keybearer instead," Shigai retorted, blocking the sword strike. "And knowing our luck, the next Keybearer will probably know what the Keyblade is and how to use it."
"That hasn't stopped us before!" Sumizome snapped, pointing his palm at Shigai, who mirrored the action, both palms forming orbs of darkness.
"For god's sake, you two are impossible," Shigai said, dispelling his spear and pointing his other hand at Kasai, another orb of darkness forming.

"I'm going to explain this to you two, slowly," he said. "And if you interrupt, you're both going to get a faceful of darkness." Sumizome and Kasai both relaxed slightly, lowering their weapons. "Right. I'm going to study the Keyblade to find out why it chooses who it chooses, what it's nature is, why it does what it does and, if possible, what creates it. If I can find out those small details, we'll have all the information we need to be unstoppable. Now do you understand?"

"Kasai, Sumizome, you two have had your fun," a voice said from one of the thrones. "Shigai's plan is a good one."
"If you thought that," Shigai said quickly. "Why did you let them summon me here?"
"Because they wouldn't have believed the rest of us," the voice said. "They are the most stubborn members here." Shigai nodded.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I need to get back to Twilight Town," Shigai said, opening a portal behind him. No one said anything else, so he stepped through it, hoping that the Keybearer hadn't moved yet.

 

[Artiste]

Tomoshibi somehow knew that every person standing in that square, but for possibly the woman who had been randomly drawn into the fighting, had an ulterior motive for getting to know him. He noticed the Heartless being a bit too close to the Key for comfort, so he willed it away for the time being. As the bright, sort of silvery-white light took the Keyblade to wherever it goes, he could swear he saw something in the Heartless' eyes… disappointment, possibly? No, it couldn't be; Heartless don't have feelings, Tomoshibi thought. Seeing that Gunblade-boy had introduced himself as ‘Ryo,' he said, "Name's Tomoshibi." Short, succinct, and to the point, that was, which was just his style. He looked around at the ragtag group; the Heartless, looking cool and calculating, the Nobody unreadable, Ryo, or Gunblade-boy as Tomoshibi would call him forever, looking falsely happy, and the woman looking as if she had a case of ‘I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and I want out of this accursed situation.'

He tried to read further into them by calculating quickly their faces and posture, which can really tell you what people are thinking quite easily. The Heartless… the Heartless looked as if he was only there for reasons unknown to all but him, but he wasn't making any attempt whatsoever to hide the fact that he felt-- annoyance, maybe? No-- disdain was the right description-- at the present company. The utter hate emanating from Gunblade-boy was apparent by the ferocious glances shot out of the corner of his eyes, which contained such putrid and un-hid malice, Tomoshibi could barely stand looking at it. The Nobody suddenly looked to the side and saw something, which made him open a portal of darkness, and promptly disappear. Tomoshibi paid it no further mind, as he suspected that happened often. He stood by his previous reading of the woman. She was distracted by something, and he could tell she was worried. About someone, or some thing, he couldn't find out unless he asked or overheard her talking about it.

"Heh, seems like I can't go anywhere without runnin' into you guys, can I? Did ya'll need something from me?" he asked, being friendly for the time being.

He didn't trust one of ‘em, not a darned little bit.

Something was fishy, and Tomoshibi was determined to figure out what. Of course, it'd take a long time to fully understand it all, and he really didn't want to expose himself to all of these people for an extended period such as that. The Key could most likely protect him, but it was still a risk. Plus, a Heartless and a Nobody traveling together… that could get real nasty, real fast. And that's not to mention Gunblade-boy and the Heartless together. That… yeah, Tomoshibi didn't want to be around for that one. Gunny-B. had a bone to pick with the Heartless, and he didn't really want to be involved whatsoever, though he had a vague idea that the ‘picking' part of it involved him… heavily. Or, more specifically, his Keyblade, which means it'd get ugly. The Nobody, who still hadn't returned, seemingly had plans which seemed to more involve the Keyblade than its Wielder, which didn't really comfort him, but it was good to know; anyway, it didn't seem as if his plans were urgent. He could seemingly wait for whatever the end goal was. He pictured the source of all of this mess in his head, obviously the Key, and was surprised by a rather plain-looking, key-shaped weapon with a blue grip on the handle, a square, gold cross-guard that encased the entire hand with a chain leading to a symbol of a mouse with large, round ears. Its blade was long, and had tines on one side at the end much as an old-fashioned house key might've. Kingdom Key… or so his mind screamed at him. He supposed that was the default form of the Keyblade, much different than the long, double-bladed sword that was Tomoshibi's, which was mainly white, silver and black.

Tomoshibi saw time freeze right in front of his eyes; Gunny-B., as he would forever be known, froze in the middle of one of his evil glances at the Heartless, who was just immobile, nothing special to note; the woman had her eyes directed at the ground when she froze. The Nobody wasn't to be found, at least in Tomoshibi's eyes; he might've still been there, but behind the Bearer, or to the side, but he didn't have time to check. He felt as if he was being pulled, rather violently, towards something, something very familiar, friendly and inviting. He would've snapped his fingers if he could move; the old man was calling him back. Hopefully, he'd be able to shed some light on the entire situation.

"Tomoshibi… you seek answers?" The voice of one who had seen many, many Key Wielders come and go spoke to him distantly, comforting Tomoshibi simply by speaking in that melodious voice which calmed all trepidations. He could not see the old man himself; this was contrary to his previous ‘visit' to this comfy place in the middle of someplace, which Tomoshibi figured would be an extremely nice place to live. He could smell cinnamon in the distance, and could see a grove of beautiful flowers of every color of a rainbow. Speaking of such, there was a seemingly perpetual rainbow in the distant sky, flooding the mass of blue with vibrant and beauteous colors which filled the soul with awe at the wonders of creation. He could hear birds singing, grasshoppers chirping, and he was at peace in that blessed place.

"Yes. I want to know what's so special about this Key. It's planted the seeds of all sorts of trouble with me. Seemingly everyone who was around me had an ulterior motive for knowing me," he said to thin air. Perhaps the old man was capable of transformation, and had taken the form of a bird? Or maybe he was in the house that was visible a ways away and speaking to him by magical means. A beautiful house, it was; a humble, two-story stone house out in the middle of a place such as this, painted a pleasant shade of off-white. Tomoshibi gave up on considering how he heard the old man, and knelt down to smell the beautiful flowers around the hill on which he was standing. Nobody could say he didn't stop to smell the roses now!

"Ah… such is the case, sadly, with every Key Bearer, my boy. Many you meet upon the way, whom you may even consider friends, will seek to use it for their own personal gain." The man popped out of nowhere, appearing in a chair around a small table that Tomoshibi hadn't noticed before. There was an open chair that he assumed was for him, and his assumption was confirmed by the man gesturing for him to sit down. He sat, and settled comfortably into the plushy, padded chair.

"Heh, I suppose I can expect that's because of its raw power? If used in the right way, that thing could save entire worlds from the Heartless. I dunno why it came to me, either, out of the billions of people in the entirety of the worlds… I'm nothin' special, just a merchant with a Gummi Ship."

"Ah, Tomoshibi, that of all things you are not. You are special… do you know what's so special about you, ‘a kid with a Gummi Ship?' He accentuated those last words with a wag of the first two fingers of both hands in midair. Tomoshibi shook his head curiously. The old man's eyes sparkled as he said, "it is your heart," he pointed at a point in the boy's chest, "that makes you special, Tomoshibi. It is pure, gentle, kind, loving and compassionate. You are a special mixture of things, which prompted the Key to choose you, its new wielder. It is not this fact by itself, however, which others probably have as well… it is your determined spirit. You are the kind of person who gets the job done quickly and efficiently; you don't give up, you see things through to the end; you have a brilliant spirit of justice, and seeing it given. You are the perfect Key Wielder of this time period, whether you accept it or not."

Tomoshibi blushed at the praise of the old man, and struggled to hide it. "Ha, guess I shouldn't completely disregard all that immaturely; I'll keep it in mind." He cast his eyes around the clearing and said, "Do you live here all the time? I wouldn't mind it. Such a beautiful place it is."

The man smiled and said, "Yes, I do live here. It is a nice place, a quiet, peaceful retreat from the worries of the world. I am not alone, seeing as I have all of these animals to keep me company, and I'm never bored. I've always got something to do, whether it is tending to the flowers, nursing a sick animal, doing chores around the house, or… teaching a new Key Wielder a few things he or she needs to know." He smiled.

Tomoshibi couldn't resist smiling as well, for some reason. That place was intoxicatingly sweet; it washed all of your worries away. "Well, you certainly do a good job at it," he said, invoking another smile from the old man; "By the way, what's your name? You know mine, but I've never heard yours."

"You need not know my name, Tomoshibi, for it has long been lost in this peaceful place; just call me Master. I have lived here for over five centuries teaching Key Wielders, and my name does not matter anymore. I have been called ‘Master' far too often and for far too long for any other name to be fit to dub me."

"Yes, master," said Tomoshibi, obediently, waiting for whatever Master would say next.

"Now, Tomoshibi, I believe our time has gone on too long… you must get back to your world. The secrets of the Key will be revealed to you as you go. Goodbye, my boy, and I hope good fortune will follow you wherever you go."

"And you, Master," Tomoshibi replied formally. He silently and sullenly bade the peaceful place, free of the world's influence a farewell before he felt himself planted right back into Twilight Town in the midst of the group.

"See you soon, Tomoshibi, and don't forget to stop and smell the roses!" called out the old man's voice as everyone else unfroze.

 

[Kalseng]

His heartless eyes were not fooled by the human's attempt at feigning friendship and kindness, but the fact that it was fake bothered him very little in the long run, but at the moment, he found it slightly humorous. He took a few idle steps towards the keybearer and looked away a moment. A sensation passed over him as he felt a disturbance between dimensions and a bit of magical shift, which drew his attention back to the keybearer, who looked slightly more relaxed, but also slightly more confused. Tal left his hands in his pockets to show a peaceful encounter, and he swallowed past a small lump in his throat.

"Follow you," Tal explained quietly. He had no intention of deserting the keybearer when he thought that the keyblade could grant light to those without it. Of course his thoughts were more coherent and intelligent than his words, but the more idiotic they believed him to be, the more trusting they would believe him to be. If they trusted him, then Tal would make a couple of very powerful friends and make some progress towards discovering who he was.

And there was the whole "Becoming human again" thing, but that wasn't on his mind right then.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Shigai stepped back through the portal just in time, it seemed. As soon as he did, everyone around him apart from the Keybearer froze, locked in time. Quickly, Shigai blocked the portal behind him to prevent it from flowing, and ceased moving, following the scene with his eyes. Almost unseeably, his pupils began to glow as he allowed his mind to follow the Keybearer to this unfamiliar destination. Tomoshibi was learning the secrets of the Keyblade from a previous Keybearer.

"Of course, the Keyblade likes to pick people who have no idea what it is," Shigai thought to himself. "Why make it simple for fighting the darkness? Why pick someone who knows what the Keyblade is when there's some poor bastard who has no clue what's going on in the world? No wonder the darkness always comes back - the light's full of morons."

As the previous Keybearer disappeared and everyone unfroze, Shigai released his block on the portal of darkness, letting it close again. He moved, running his fingers through his hair.
"For once, it's nice to see you guys not getting into trouble when I come back," Shigai said, shrugging.