A dark portal appeared as the lady faded into it. Immediately, she reappeared right next to the bridge. She started fiddling with the paper fan in her hand. With a twirl, the paper fan turned into a shade of silver. She then started tapping the metal fan on the rope of the bridge in a mocking manner.

Kairi gasped. She seems to have discovered something. ‘I think she’s going to cut the rope… She’s going to bring down the bridge!’

‘What?’ Sora exclaimed.

‘See you then,’ she smiled. With a stroking movement, she ripped the ropes which bounded the bridge to the cliff with the now sharp fan. Unable to suspend itself in the air, the bridge started to tear apart, bringing both Mulan and Shang down with it.

‘You be good now,’ the lady said as she waved at Sora, the darkness wrapping her as she disappeared from the area.

‘Come back here!’ Sora ran forward and slashed the darkness with his Keyblade, catching nothing but the air.

‘Sora, don’t bother! We’ve got to help them!’ Riku called out as he ran to the edge of the cliff. Mulan and Shang were hanging on a thin thread. The bridge was unlikely to support the weight of two grown person with its worn out ropes.

‘You can do it girl!’ Mushu yelled out words of encouragement as he peeked down the cliff. ‘We’re gonna get both of you up, so just hang in there!’

‘Hang on, we’ll get help soon,’ Mulan wheezed as she hanged on dearly to the broken bridge. She was holding on to Shang’s arm with her other hand to keep him from falling.

‘I can’t reach them…’ Riku muttered as he leaned forward and tried to stretch out his hand to Mulan.

‘I… I will find another way!’ said Sora as he started searching through their items for something they could use to pull Mulan and Shang to safety.

‘Mulan, let go of my hand,’ Shang requested.

‘No!’ Mulan snapped back, her eyes widening. ‘I’ll never do that! How can you say such a thing?’

‘Mulan, you and I know that this bridge cannot support the two of us,’ Shang continued. ‘Please…’

‘Then we’ll both go down together,’ Mulan said stubbornly. ‘I’ll never leave you, Shang.’

The bridge started creaking as it started to break apart. Shang hesitated as he bit his lip. He looked up and gave a sad smile to Mulan. ‘Mulan… keep on living,’ he whispered before shifting his arm, loosening Mulan’s grip of his hand. With one last jerk, Shang fell down into the deep valley.

‘Shang!’ Mulan cried with all that was left of her voice. She could not believe that she had allowed her lover to save her life at the cost of his. She turned away as a silent tear ran down her cheeks.

Sora snitched a long sword which was sitting nearby. He passed it to Riku, who extended the weapon down the cliff, allowing Mulan to hold it and climb up. After Mulan was safe, no words were exchanged. Even Mushu, who is known for his fast paced mouth, knew not to say anything. Kairi helped comb Mulan’s disheveled hair back into place to show her stunning facial features, yet revealing a sad face. In her hand, she was still holding onto the long sword Sora had found. She held it close to her body even as they walked, as if finding security in doing so.

‘So… General Shang is deceased…’

Mulan and Mushu along with Sora, Riku and Kairi had returned to the Palace to report back to the Emperor about what had happened. As they spoke of the chain of events from the encounter of the mysterious lady, to the battle between Mulan and the lady, and to the broken bridge, and Shang’s death, the Emperor nodded, his expression changing at times, but nonetheless, calm.

‘This girl…’ the Emperor started.

‘Her name was Xiaolu,’ said Mulan as Sora listened intently, catching up on information he has not learned about. ‘I believe she is from China, from the way she looks. She’s very skilled in fighting. I don’t know what her motives are, but…’

Mulan trailed off as she stared down at the sword in her hands. She took a step forward and knelt before the Emperor, presenting the sword she had brought from the site. The Emperor pursed his lips as stood up from his throne. He walked towards Mulan, stretching out his hand and stroked the sword she was holding. The Emperor sighed.

‘He was a brave man,’ the Emperor spoke. ‘He has done great things for China. This will be a great lost to our country. He will be honoured and remembered by the people.’

Mulan lowered her head, evidently trying her best to hold back her tears. Sora now understood why she had clung onto the sword. The sword was once in the possession of General Shang and was something that she would treasure. The weapon which was used in wars was now an object of comfort to Mulan.

‘I will send out a search team to reclaim his body. You need not worry, Mulan,’ the Emperor continued as he lifted his hands off the weapon. ‘As for General Shang's sword... You may keep it.’

Mulan's eyes brighten up for once in a long time. She lowered her head once again. ‘Your Majesty, this means a lot to me,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

Mulan hugged the sword closely as she smiled silently. Suddenly, the sword started flashing with an odd light. At the same time, the tip of Sora, Riku and Kairi's Keyblade started shining. Mulan released her hand from the sword as it floated into the air. As the sword continued to shine in mid air, a beam of light appeared and revealed a large Keyhole.

‘This is...’ Sora started as he waved his Keyblade.

‘The Keyhole,’ Riku nodded, raising his Keyblade in front of him.

‘The key to open the path to the other worlds,’ Kairi resumed as the three of them pointed their Keyblade into the air. Together, their Keyblades shot a large beam of light towards the Keyhole, unlocking it.

After the Keyhole disappeared, Mulan retrieved the sword as it fell gracefully back into her arms. ‘Is that the same Keyhole as before?’ Mulan asked. ‘Does this mean you’ll have no go now?’

‘I guess…’ Sora nodded as he turned to his friends. Riku gave a positive reply. But as Sora looked at Kairi, she seemed slightly concern about Mulan. Slowly, she nodded as well. ‘We’ve got to check out the other worlds too.’

‘Good luck young warriors,’ said the Emperor.

‘Thanks,’ they smiled in return. As they walked out of the Throne Room, they took one last look back to see Mulan waving back at them. Mushu peeked out of Mulan and gave a thumb up. After Sora, Riku and Kairi left, Mulan turned back to the Emperor, her face stern with a more pressing matter at hand.

‘Your Majesty…’ Mulan started. ‘How do you plan to settle this matter?’

‘What matter are we speaking of, Mulan?’ the Emperor asked.

‘The forging of the alliance,’ said Mulan as she shifted her eyes to the side. ‘I stand by my words that I will not allow Your Majesty’s daughters to be wed to the neighbouring kingdom.’

‘I understand your wishes, Mulan. And I will grant them,’ the Emperor nodded. ‘But I have not thought of a way to stop the Mongols from attacking China… Perhaps we will just have to send out the army.’

‘Perhaps, Your Majesty…’ Mulan gulped, as her heart took a leap to present her idea. ‘I could be wed to the kingdom of Qui Gong in place of Your Majesty’s daughters.’

Something started bumping against Mulan. It was Mushu, who was obviously taken aback by the idea. The Emperor had raised his eyebrows too. ‘Mulan… You do understand what you are speaking of, don’t you?’

‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ Mulan replied confidently. ‘For China, I would sacrifice my life. After all, Shang had…’

‘Mulan, this is a lifetime’s decision,’ the Emperor said. ‘I want you to think clearly again.’

‘Your Majesty, I have thought about this for a long time’ said Mulan reassuringly. ‘I will not have any doubts. I… don’t want to have any more regrets.’

‘Very well, Mulan…’ said the Emperor in defeat. ‘We will make immediate preparations for your marriage.’

Mulan nodded as she looked back into her arms where the sword laid silently. She kissed the sword as she mouthed the words “please forgive me”.

‘I hope Mulan is okay…’ Kairi muttered as the trio was walking towards the Marketplace, returning to their Gummi Ship. She placed a hand on her chest and sighed. ‘It must hurt a lot to lose the one you love.’

‘It’s awful, but I think she’ll be fine,’ said Sora as he placed his hands behind his head in a laid back manner. ‘She’s one tough cookie.’

Soon, they were walking down that same valley again. The brown, barren land seems even more uninviting than ever. As they took small steps, their thoughts were with Shang, whose time came too early.

‘Hey… Don’t you think those green trees there are a little suspicious?’ said Riku out of a sudden as he pointed at a clump of tall trees in a shade from afar.

‘What’s so suspicious about that?’ asked Sora. ‘They are just trees, right?’

‘Didn’t you notice?’ said Kairi. ‘The trees are in a place where it is hard to get sunlight. And those aren’t the local variety. It’s too… leafy. Besides, we haven’t seen any green plants around this empty area, have we?’

Sora’s eyes widened. Those thoughts never occurred to him before. He rearranged his mind before speaking. ‘Then… what are they doing here?’

Sora, Riku and Kairi exchanged stares. As if struck by a bat at the same time, the three of them hopped to their feet and was running towards the trees. They had a feeling that they would find something in the clump of trees. As they went closer, they could see some squashy, multi-coloured draping on the floor. It seems that someone has left them there on purpose, as the draping has a very beautiful decoration on it. The textile seems expensive, and would not be something that was accidently left behind in a weird clump of trees.

‘What are these here for?’ Riku wondered as he ran his hand through the cloth, a very silky texture to it.

‘What’s that over there?’ asked Kairi as she pointed to an odd figure curled up at a corner. Sora took a closer look to inspect. Suddenly, he could recognize it as human’s body. As he went closer, the human figure started to look familiar.

‘General Shang!’ Sora yelled. Riku and Kairi leapt to their feet and ran over to Sora’s side to see if it was true. Surely enough, the man was in a featal position, but his garment and hairstyle made him recognizable. His clothes were slightly worn out from the fall through the trees.

Riku bent forward to inspect the general as Sora and Kairi watched nervously. He placed his palms on Shang’s back, then moved his finger towards his nose to check his breathing.

‘He’s not injured badly... The trees and cloth must’ve broken his fall,’ said Riku as he turned around, smiling. ‘He’s alive.’

‘H-he is?’ said Sora gleefully, obviously excited with the news.

‘He’s unconcious now though,’ said Riku. ‘We probably should let him rest for a bit before bringing him back. Maybe cast a few “Cure” spells on him?’

‘I’ll do it!’ said Kairi, who had her Keyblade ready.

‘You learned how to do Magic?’ asked Sora.

‘I’m not that slow, you know,’ Kairi replied with a smile. She pointed her Keyblade into the air as she started chanting. ‘Cure!’

The tip of Kairi’s Keyblade started to sparkle. A green wave of light started wrapping General Shang’s frail body. As the wave of light dispersed, the body started moving out of is safe position. The man raised his head. There were fine scratches across his square, handsome face. His face was filled with dust and dirt.

‘Sora, Riku, Kairi...?’ Shang muttered, confused. ‘Where am I?’

‘You’re still with us, General Shang,’ Kairi smiled. ‘You’re still alive.’

‘I... I am?’ Shang moved his hands slowly towards his face. As he rubbed them against his face, he could feel the sense of touch with his hands. He shut his eyes and smiled. He has never felt so relieved to feel touch in his whole life. ‘I’m still here... I’m still alive... But, how did I survive?’

‘You must’ve landed through these trees,’ Riku explained as he waved around them. He then lifted the cloth on the floor. ‘And these cloth must’ve cushioned your fall too.’

‘How did all of these get here?’ Shang asked.

‘We have no idea. It’s odd, but you must be lucky to have survived from such a high fall,’ Sora replied. ‘Anyway, we should bring you back to the Palace. Mulan’s worried about you. She’ll be glad to know you’re alive.’

‘Oh... yes,’ Shang nodded. ‘We better get back quick.’

As General Shang stood up, he staggered and fell back onto the ground. Riku offered his hand as he helped him to stand up. The four of them then left the valley immediately. They were glad to have left the barren lands as they passed by a village area on the way to the Palace. The townspeople seem to be buzzing as a few housewives started gathering around as they gossiped.

‘Have you heard?’ whispered a plump woman as they passed by the Marketplace.

‘Is it about that China’s bravest woman?’ asked her petite friend. This woman’s statement had piqued the interest of Sora and the party. ‘She’s awfully brave to be doing such thing.’

‘If she was my daughter, I would be worried sick!’ a younger woman in orange added. ‘To be fighting with the army, and now to offer herself to be married to Qui Gong’s prince!’

‘What did you say, lady?’ said Shang in a demanding voice abruptly, his senses sharpened when he heard about Mulan.

---

Current Word Count: 11,547

Labels: NaNoMadness

‘Great move Mulan!’ Mushu spoke happily while Mulan was storming out of the Imperial Square. ‘That guy needs to be taught a lesson. See how insensitive he is? You should just dump that guy. The Fa family deserves a better son-in-law.’

‘Mushu, I don’t need to listen to that now…’ said Mulan. As she ran far enough, she stopped by a peaceful river to catch her breath and recollect her thoughts. Her heart was filled with mixed emotions. A part of her was filled with a strong sense of justice, able to do anything just to stop the arranged marriage of the Emperor’s daughters. Another part of her was filled with obligation, regretting that she had shouted at both the Emperor and General Shang and refusing to carry out her duties.

‘Hey Mulan, just forget about Shang already,’ said Mushu. ‘The pretty boy obviously doesn’t care about you. Look, he didn’t even come running after you!’

Mulan simply shook her head, refusing to speak. She did not know what to do next. Mushu sighed and started wandering around as Mulan continued to stare blankly into the river, catching her reflection.

‘Sheesh… I wish I could help her, but she’s not listening to any bit I’m saying!’ Mushu muttered with annoyance once Mulan was out of sight. He buried his face into his tiny hands as he heaved another sigh. ‘Mulan and Shang better not get together, or I’ll lose my job!’

‘Mulan…’

‘Shang?’ Mulan raised her head with anticipation, hoping to see her lover. Instead, she was faced by a strange girl with a pleasant smile.

‘How did you know my name?’ said Mulan, confused. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m Xiaolu,’ the girl smiled as she raised her paper fan in the air. With a strong burst of light, the fan turned silver. With a twist of her wrist, she opened the fan, revealing a very artistic design. The fan started to glimmer as it reflected the sun’s rays. ‘And that will be last time you’ll ever hear someone utter your name.’

‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!’

‘Mulan?’ Sora stopped in his tracks when he heard Mulan’s voice. After Mulan ran out of the Palace, the trio has been searching high and low for her. Sora’s heart leapt with fear as Mulan’s yell did not sound promising.

‘Come on,’ Riku called out, bringing Sora’s attention back. ‘We’ve got to find her. She might be in danger.’

Sora, Riku and Kairi ran towards the source of the sound. It was hard to find their way to Mulan as she had only yelled once. As they ran past the river, they saw a tiny red figure.

‘Isn’t that Mushu?’ said Kairi. Sora stopped and took a closer look. He need not walk closer, as the little red figure in sight has suddenly grew larger.

‘Sora, Riku, Kairi!’ cried Mushu. It seems that the dragon had managed to dash towards the trio at a surprisingly fast pace. ‘Mulan… She…’

‘We heard her, where is she?’ Sora questioned. ‘Why aren’t you with her?’

‘I… it’s my fault!’ Mushu said grimly. ‘I shouldn’t have said all those things to her and left her alone. I didn’t mean to do it, but I wanted to stay as her family guardian so I tried to-’

‘Mushu, just bring us to her,’ Riku said sternly, not wanting to waste any time and putting Mulan’s life in jeopardy.

‘O-okay!’ the dragon squirmed. He then led the party down the stream. He was running as fast as his short limbs could take him. Soon, they found themselves climbing higher up the cliff. Eventually, they arrived at the same valley they were walking through earlier, except that they are on higher grounds now.

‘Mulan!’ Sora yelled when he spotted Mulan on the ground. The ground around her was filled with metal stakes and needles. There were even some needles pricking through Mulan too. She was grabbing hold of her sword as she struggled to stand up. When she heard her name, she was suddenly fueled with energy. Using what was left of her energy, she raised her head to see who it was.

‘Sora, Riku, Kairi… Mushu…’ Mulan uttered weakly as her head fell back onto the ground.

‘Mulan!’ Sora cried as he ran forward to help her up. But suddenly, a portal of darkness appeared. As the darkness faded, a pleasant young lady appeared. She dusted the skirt of her traditional Chinese outfit before raising her head to address Sora.

‘Stop calling her name,’ she said as she flicked her dark locks off her shoulder and smiled. ‘I’m supposed to be the last one who does that.’

‘You… you’re the one from the marketplace,’ Riku recalled. ‘She was the lady who said that there was nothing suspicious going on.’

‘Well, you’re the suspicious one!’ Kairi exclaimed.

Sora flung his hand backwards, summoning his Keyblade as he sensed danger. ‘Who are you?’ he spoke with a demanding voice. ‘Leave Mulan alone.’

‘Sora, right?’ the lady spoke without paying much attention to Sora’s demands. Sora responded with a flabbergasted look on his face. Before he could speak, the girl continued, pointing at Sora’s hand. ‘It’s the Keyblade. It’s not that hard to notice you. And behind you, that’s Riku, then Kairi. And the little one there…’

The girl simply smiled. Sora could not tell if she knew Mushu’s name or not. But he had a feeling that they had met before as Mushu had hid himself behind Riku’s leg.

‘You didn’t finish what I told you to do, did you?’ said the lady.

Mushu shook his head hysterically. ‘I shouldn’t have even started it!’

The lady shrugged. ‘Fine by me, it’s your choice and your problem if you don’t want to take my advice to break Mulan and Shang apart,’ she said. ‘Worst thing is that you’ll lose your place as the Fa family’s guardian. No job, no friend.’

Mulan’s eyes widen as she heard what the lady said. ‘Mushu… is that true?’ she asked softly. Mushu, who was still hidden behind Riku nodded briefly.

‘I don’t get it,’ said Sora with a question mark. ‘Why did you want to destroy Mulan and Shang’s relationship?’

‘If Mulan gets married to Shang, she’ll be a part of the Li family and have one of their guardians instead of me,’ Mushu explained bitterly. ‘And that would mean that I’ll have to leave my place of honour as a guardian because I’m out of the job. And you know I don’t wanna lose you, girl. All the times we’ve been together, I’d be lonely without you.’

‘That doesn’t matter now, Mushu,’ the lady said as she stretched her arms apart. ‘I’ll just have to do things my way now.’

Globs of darkness started appearing throughout the area. Heartless and Nobodies arrived through the corridors of darkness upon the young lady’s orders.

‘Heartless and Nobodies!’ Riku stated as he took out his Keyblade. ‘She’s with them!’

‘I knew something was fishy!’ Sora said angrily. ‘Mushu! Keep Mulan safe, we’ll beat these guys up.’

‘Right!’

Mushu was glad to be given a job. He ran to Mulan’s side and started to take out the needles stuck to her clothes and flesh gently. Meanwhile, Sora, Riku and Kairi battled the Heartless and Nobodies.

‘Is that all?’ Sora taunted as he defeated the last Heartless. The lady laughed tenderly in return.

‘Oh, if you think that was it, you are terribly wrong,’ the lady answered confidently. ‘I was just heating things up.’

Just as she was about to raise her hand which contained her paper fan, a yell from afar interrupted them.

‘Mulan!’

‘Shang!’ Mulan sat upright as she heard his voice. Bearing all the pain, she slowly stood up with the help of Mushu.

‘It seems that everyone just loves to call her name,’ said the lady as she pursed her lips. Right at that moment, a Dusk Nobody appeared from the darkness. It leaned towards the lady as if it was whispering something into her ear.

‘It’s General Shang!’ Kairi muttered, pointing over to the opposite direction. As Sora turned over to where Kairi was pointing, he could see General Shang crossing the bridge which was leading to the other side of the valley.

‘Shang!’ Mulan cried as she limped towards the bridge. ‘I’m sorry for yelling at you!’

‘Mulan, I need to apologize too!’ Shang responded, picking up his pace as he walked across the bridge.

‘Aww, how sweet!’ the lady smiled. Next to her, the Dusk Nobody returned back into the darkness. ‘But it’s just sad that I have to leave now. Should I make things sweeter before I go?’
---

Current Word Count: 9,169

Labels: NaNoMadness

It was quite a distance away, but they had to make it there on foot as there were very few transportation choices in the area. It was not surprising that their path was blocked by the Heartless and Nobodies.

‘The white ones are called Nobodies,’ Sora explained as they walked through a deep valley. He then started to illustrate Xigbar, Organization XIII’s Freeshooter. ‘Remember the guy in the black coat? The one with the eye patch. He’s a Nobody too.’

‘Oh…’ Mulan said, recalling the man who had put China in danger as she tried to digest everything. ‘So these Nobody beings… they don’t have a heart?’

‘Yup,’ nodded Sora.

Little did they know that the ones plotting against them were standing on a cliff which hung above them. On this cliff were two people, a man and a younger lady. The man was cloaked from head to toe, only allowing enough space for his eyes to see through. The dark haired girl was wearing a traditional Chinese garment, her cheeks rosy and eyes sharp like a phoenix.

‘What do you think?’ asked the young lady pleasantly.

‘Wonderful,’ said the man through his cloak. ‘The Mongol generals will be pleased.’

‘How could they not be?’ the young lady smiled. ‘With the Heartless and Nobodies under their command, it’d be easy to crush the Chinese army.’

‘That would be the case,’ the man started on a grim tone as he pointed to the group who were walking in the valley, led by China’s bravest woman. ‘If those people do not get in our way.’

‘The Keybladers, huh,’ the lady whispered as she took out a fan from the compartment in her sleeves. With a flick movement, she opened the fan and placed it in front of her cheek with an air of superiority. ‘I’ll handle that.’

‘Is that it?’ Riku interrupted politely after walking for some time. Standing tall before them was the Palace, the home of China’s emperor. Mulan led them into the Palace and right into the Throne Room. Sitting on the throne was an aged man in yellow, his white hair and long beard augmented his face which shined with wisdom. Standing by his side was a well-built man with dark hair, who smiled as Mulan approached.

‘Your Majesty,’ said Mulan as she lowered her head before the Emperor. Sora, Riku and Kairi followed suit, bowing in the sign of respect.

‘Rise, Mulan,’ the Emperor said in a deep voice. He then addressed Sora. ‘And you are Sora, the one who helped save China before, am I correct?’

‘Um, yes sir!’ Sora said nervously before a man of great respect.

The Emperor tittered softly. He then turned towards Mulan. ‘What is it that you’re looking for me?’

‘You Majesty, I’m here to report that the Heartless have returned,’ said Mulan. ‘Along with them are the Nobodies, a group of beings with evil purposes.’

The Emperor nodded as he listened to Mulan explaining the situation. ‘I have an idea on who might be behind this…’ he said as he stroked his beard.

‘You do?’ said Sora, excited to find a lead. As Mulan shot a glance at him, he cooled down and rephrased his words. ‘Uh… I mean, Your Majesty, who do you think is controlling all these Heartless and Nobodies?’

‘The Mongolian army,’ the man replied instead of the Emperor. ‘The Mongols have been hostile for awhile now. We have done some investigation work and we are quite certain that they are getting help from someone to control what you call the Heartless and Nobodies.’

The Emperor nodded. ‘Thank you, General Shang,’ he spoke. ‘Which brings me back to the task I asked of you many days ago, Mulan. Would you escort my daughters to kingdom of Qui Gong?’

‘I’m sorry, Your Majesty,’ Mulan said. ‘But I cannot agree on this matter. Your Majesty’s daughters should have the right to choose their husbands. They cannot be forced into marriage like this!’

‘Mulan, the Mongolian army is growing stronger and would strike at any moment and we need to ensure the safety of our people,’ Shang objected. ‘The Emperor only wishes to forge an alliance. If this is His Majesty’s wish, then we should carry it out.’

‘Your Majesty,’ Kairi spoke. ‘Are you planning to wed your daughters to people they haven’t met just to save your kingdom?’

The Emperor simply nodded and did not add any words. Sora, who finally understood what the argument was about, retaliated.

‘Arranged marriage isn’t the only way out,’ Sora retorted. ‘If I need to get rid of the army and the Heartless and Nobodies, then I’ll stand in the frontlines fight, not make someone do something they don’t want to. Especially marriage, nuh-uh.’

‘We have been through this before, Mulan,’ said Shang strictly. ‘We must carry out the Emperor’s task as his subjects. His Majesty has already spoken of the consequences. If the alliance crumbles, China will be destroyed.’

‘How could you throw your daughters to a foreign land?’ Mulan continued. ‘Do you not care about their feelings?’

‘They will be remembered as the women who brought China and Qui Gong together,’ the Emperor replied calmly but his eyebrows were furrowed. ‘They will be remembered as the women who saved China from the Mongols.’

‘You are betting them away without a second thought as if they don’t mean anything!’ Mulan cried. ‘Just because women are seen to be lower than men, does that give you the right to decide how they live their lives?’

‘Mulan!’ Shang yelled back at Mulan’s impoliteness. ‘That is enough!’

‘I will find another way to solve this,’ Mulan exclaimed confidently. ‘I will never bring your daughters to Qui Gong!’

With that, Mulan ran out of the Throne Room, her cheeks started to flush in red.

‘Mulan!’ Sora called out, but she never turned back. He looked at the Emperor and Shang hesitantly, and ran after Mulan. Riku and Kairi did an apologizing gesture to the Emperor before following suit, leaving only the Emperor and General Shang in the Throne Room.

‘Do you think I might have made a mistake?’ the Emperor asked.

‘No, Your Majesty,’ Shang replied. ‘Mulan… she has gone too far. She has acted irresponsibly.’

‘But General Shang,’ the Emperor continued. ‘Shouldn’t you be less harsh with her?’

The general fell silent as he looked at the ground. In his heart, he felt guilty as he chose between following the book and following his heart.

‘…Go,’ the Emperor spoke.

‘Your Majesty?’ Shang asked as he did not understand.

‘Have I not made myself clear? Go and follow Mulan,’ said the Emperor. ‘She is your bride-to-be after all, isn’t she?

‘What about Your Majesty’s daughters?’ Shang asked again. ‘And the kingdom? We need to forge the alliance!’

‘I will think of something else while you calm her down,’ the Emperor answered. ‘Woman should never be angered, as they are capable to do all sorts of unpredictable things. In my years, I have seen many ugly things in a marriage. General Shang, you have a lot to learn.’

‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ said Shang with a deep bow before running off to chase his fiancée.
---

Current Word Count: 7,729

Labels: NaNoMadness

‘Why hasn’t she come home if she’s still around?’ asked Kairi.

‘We don’t know,’ said Aerith. ‘The only person who might now is Leon, since he is the only person she contacted.’

‘Are they good friends?’ Sora wondered aloud.

‘Oh, they’re great friends,’ Yuffie chirped. ‘Really close, inseparable.’

Sora wondered. What kind of girl is she to be so close with Leon? Sora had an image of a dark-haired girl, her long fringe hung over her dreamy eyes. She was wearing a dark outfit, almost like Leon’s.

‘I wonder if she’s alright,’ said a concerned Aerith. ‘Maybe she has her reasons why she hasn’t come back.’

‘It’ll be alright,’ Kairi said. ‘I have a feeling that she’ll come back. I know it. Even I have come back to Radiant Garden.’

‘You’re a local?’ Cid asked with a tone of surprise.

Kairi nodded. ‘But I don’t have a lot of memories about my time here. Ansem the Wise sent me to Destiny Island when I was little. But I’m still alive and I came back. So it’ll be alright.’

‘Thank you, Kairi,’ Aerith smiled.

They checked the list of worlds to visit once more. After deciding where they will be heading next, Sora, Riku and Kairi made preparations to leave.

‘Hey, take this,’ said Cid as he reached out his hand, a small device in it.

‘What’s this?’ Sora asked as he took the item.

‘It’s a communicating device,’ Cid answered. ‘Install it to your gummi ship. We might need to call you back here at any time, especially when the King comes back because he’ll have a lot to tell.’

‘Alright now, take care,’ Aerith waved.

As Sora and his friends left Merlin’s house, Aerith, Yuffie and Cid exchange glares stares again.

‘She… will come back right?’ Cid said hesitantly as he looked at the ground.

‘She has to, or Leon will never be himself.’ Yuffie nodded. ‘Besides, it has been a long time since we could call him Squall.’

‘Rinoa…’ Aerith uttered softly. ‘Please return home safely…’

---

‘Do you think Leon’s friend will be okay?’ Sora asked as he leaned back on his chair.

‘She will be,’ Kairi said confidently.

‘I have no idea how you know these kind of things,’ said Riku, who was managing the gummi ship.

‘I just know it,’ Kairi claimed. ‘It’s a girl thing.’

‘Hey, look,’ Sora said as he leaned forward, pointing out of the ship. ‘We’re here already. The Land of Dragons.’

‘I know,’ said Riku.

‘What, was that a girl thing?’ Sora poked, receiving a glare from Riku. Sora then remembered something. ‘Oh yeah… you were here weren’t you?’

‘Why do you say that?’ Riku asked.

‘When we were fighting off the Heartless, you were there, in the Organization XIII coat,’ Sora said. He nodded as the memories flooded back, more confident of his answer. ‘Yeah, it was you. The Emperor said that a guy in a coat gave a warning. And that he said “that three wise guys would take care of everything”. Then I knew it had to be you.’

‘I guess even my words can’t lie, huh?’ Riku sniggered. ‘Anyways, we’ll be landing here then.’

The gummi ship landed at a place Sora hasn’t been to before. It was a marketplace near a residential area. It was filled with the locals, all clad in traditional Chinese outfit.

‘I wonder where’s Mulan and Mushu,’ said Sora.

‘Let’s keep walking,’ Riku suggested. ‘We’ll find something eventually.’

As they walked down the marketplace, cries of the merchants selling their goods were widespread. The people bargained, carrying bags of items with satisfaction. There were performers doing acts to earn some money for a living.

‘Should we start investigating?’ Sora suggested.

Riku and Kairi agreed. They started spreading about the marketplace to collect information about recent happenings, especially regarding the Heartless and Nobodies.

‘Everything is peaceful here,’ an old lady said kindly.

‘Nope, nothing suspicious,’ replied a pleasant young girl.

‘The suspicious one is you!’ a cautious man said rudely.

Alas, they came together at the end of the marketplace. With no leads, they could wander around aimlessly while hoping to bump into Mulan. And as usual, they were not alone. Right at the moment they left the marketplace to a secluded, quiet area, the Heartless and Nobodies attacked.

‘I think we can figure out their pattern now,’ said Sora as he dashed towards the nearest Nobody with his Keyblade in hand.

‘They appear only when we’re around,’ Kairi spoke while panting deeply, keeping a distance as she tried to catch her breath.

‘But don’t you think it’s a little odd?’ Riku added as he parried an attack from a Nightwalker Heartless. ‘Their behaviour is just too orderly.’

‘Let me help.’

A gentle voice appeared from behind. A girl with short black hair was in a battle stance, a sword in her hand. On her shoulders was a small red dragon.

‘Mulan! Mushu!’ Sora cried.

‘Yeah, you better brace yourself because it’s Mulan and Mushu here!’ Mushu boasted rapidly. ‘We’re gonna kick your butts like you’ve never seen pain before!’

Together, they fought off the Heartless and Nobodies. Once the situation has turned peaceful again, Sora immediately started the round of introductions.

‘Nice to meet you, and welcome to China,’ said Mulan kindly.

‘Thanks, it’s a beautiful world,’ Kairi smiled.

‘Until the Heartless and the white ones came,’ Mulan frowned.

‘You mean they have been here for a long time?’ Riku asked.

‘Oh, no,’ Mulan shook her head. ‘They only appeared awhile ago. We fought them off. We thought that it was strange, since they haven’t been around for a long time. So we started looking around to make sure the people are alright.’

‘Just like the other worlds…’ Sora went into his thinking position. ‘We need to unlock the paths to the other worlds. Would you mind bringing us around again?’

‘Sure, it would be my pleasure,’ said Mulan. Then, her voice became a little softer. ‘But I’d like to see the general first, if things are as what you said.’

‘The general?’ Sora exclaimed with a question mark.

‘Oh, I haven’t told you,’ Mulan continued. ‘Captain Shang has been appointed a general.’

‘Wow! That’s awesome!’ said Sora in awe. Mulan nodded happily in return, looking excited somehow.

‘The pretty boy has us to thank,’ Mushi scoffed. ‘Without us, he’d be nothing but a walking fashion statement.’

‘Mushu…’ Mulan hushed the little dragon.

‘What? I’m saying what I’m thinking!’ Mushu retorted. ‘You’re China’s bravest woman! I bet the guy’s not even number 9876543210! …Are there even that many people in China? Anyhow, a butt-kicking girl like you should marry a richer and stronger man!’

‘Mushu!’ Mulan grabbed hold of Mushu’s mouth, muffling his words. She looked frantic as her cheeks started to redden.

‘Marry?’ Kairi asked. ‘Mulan, are you getting married to General Shang?’

Mulan nodded slowly as her lips started to widen into a smile. Her eyes was wandering around as she tilted her head towards the ground.

‘W-wow!’ Sora gasped, lost for words. ‘Congratulations!’

‘Thanks,’ said Mulan joyfully.

‘Hey, hey, who said you’re gonna marry that pretty boy?’ Mushu interrupted unceremoniously. ‘You’ve got to go through Mushu first!’

‘I’m sorry, he’s always… very energetic,’ said Mulan.

‘We can see that,’ said Riku. ‘It’s alright, we don’t blame you for that.’

‘Hey, what are you talking about!’ Mushu continued rambling as the others started to ignore him. ‘You don’t speak of an important family guardian like that! Show some res-’

‘Should we get going?’ Mulan asked.

‘Alright,’ Sora nodded, doing a great job in paying little attention to Mushu. ‘Lead the way.’

‘Hey, are you listening?’

They were headed to the Palace where the Emperor lives. According to Mulan, General Li Shang was stationed at the Palace.
---

Current Word Count: 6,531

Labels: NaNoMadness

‘The best time would be now,’ Leon replied. ‘Remember to report back here after checking in on two worlds. We need you to keep us updated, and we’ll be able to update you too.’

‘Gotcha,’ Sora nodded. He turned to Riku and Kairi. ‘You guys ready?’

‘Ever ready!’ Kairi responded positively.

‘Always,’ Riku smiled.

‘Hey, don’t forget me!’

A muffled voice issued out of Donald’s hat. As Sora took a closer look, he spotted a little green cricket climbing up Donald’s shoulder.

‘Jiminy!’ Sora identified.

Jiminy Cricket nodded as he tipped his top hat lightly. ‘You can’t possibly leave without me, right? I still have a job of recording your journey to do.’

‘Sure, hop on,’ said Sora as Jiminy leapt across. He opened the umbrella held in his hand as he took a soft landing on Sora’s shoulder. He slided down Sora’s back and took his place in Sora’s hood.

‘If that’s all, we’ll be taking a leave now,’ Sora continued.

‘Take care, Sora,’ said Goofy.

‘Don’t push yourself too hard,’ Donald noted.

As Sora walked out of the door, he was interrupted in his steps.

‘Sora,’ said Cloud suddenly. He paused as his eye shifted towards a corner. ‘Don’t ever lose sight of you light.’

Sora nodded, gave one last goodbye, and left Radiant Garden with two of his best friends by his side.

---

‘Wow, this is pretty neat!’

The three friends had collected their gummi ship, their vessel to travel to other worlds. Kairi was admiring the interior of the gummi ship as Sora started figuring the controls.

‘It has only been three months, but I don’t remember how to work this thing anymore…’ said Sora, confused.

‘Here,’ Riku stretched out a hand towards the control panel. ‘Let me do it.’

Sora scooted to the other chair as Riku operated the control panel skilfully. Sora turned to take a peek at Kairi, who was enjoying herself. He smiled at the sight before turning back to the front.

It was a hassle to face numerous Heartless ships as they battled their way to the next world. The gummi ship sustained some damages, but all was well.

‘Look,’ Riku pointed out after the army of Heartless have dispersed. ‘It’s a world.’

‘Olympus Coliseum!’ Sora cried. He could clearly see the two large warrior statues that stand proudly on both sides of the Coliseum Gates. Beyond the gate was the Underworld, puffing with purple clouds.

Without a command, Riku nodded and navigated the gummi ship to land at Olympus Coliseum. Soon, they were warped to the landing point in the Underworld.

The Underworld was dark and gloomy, just a Sora had remembered it. He could see the dark river, and across it, the Underdrome.

‘Sora, are those your friends?’ Kairi tapped Sora’s shoulders lightly as he turned towards the direction she was pointing at. Sora could see a buffed man in a gladiator suit. He had rows of pearly white teeth and a pair of bright blue eyes. By his side was a slender lady with long burgundy hair. The two of them were waving from afar.

‘Hercules!’ Sora called out as he ran towards his friend.

‘Hey Sora, haven’t seen you in awhile,’ Hercules smiled. ‘How are things?’

‘Same old,’ said Sora. ‘Fighting bad guys and all. What about you?’

‘Nothing much,’ Hercules replied. ‘Just making sure that Hades stays low.’

‘By the way Sora, where’s Donald and Goofy?’ asked the lady.

‘Oh, they are, uh… beating Heartless and Nobodies somewhere else,’ Sora answered. ‘By the way, these are my friends. This is Riku, and this is Kairi.’

‘We’ve heard a lot about you two,’ said Hercules. ‘My name’s Hercules.’

‘Call me Meg,’ the lady said.

Riku nodded simply while Kairi spoke. ‘Nice to meet you!’

‘Have you two by any chance seen any weird things happening around here?’ Sora asked. ‘Like the Heartless or Nobody?’

‘Nope,’ Hercules said. ‘Things have been really peaceful, other than Hades. Why do you ask?’

Right at that moment, the Heartless and Nobody appeared, surrounding them.

‘Not until now,’ Riku said as he whipped out his Keyblade.

---

‘Told you Santa was real,’ Kairi exclaimed proudly.

Riku heaved a sigh as they landed in Radiant Garden after their trip from Halloween Town. They had unsealed the path in Olympus Coliseum and Halloween Town, widening their reach to the other worlds.

‘Let’s go back to Merlin’s House,’ said Sora as he walked out of the gummi ship. The Heartless and Nobodies were still around as they made their way towards Merlin’s House.

‘Hey Sora, you’re back!’

Aerith led Sora, Riku and Kairi into the house where Yuffie and Cid were having a Sea Salt Ice-cream break.

‘Leon’s at the Postern,’ said Yuffie. ‘Didn’t you catch him on the way here?’

‘We landed in the Marketplace,’ Riku said.

‘What’s he doing there?’ Sora asked.

‘Beats me,’ Yuffie mumbled as she took a bite of the bright blue ice-cream. ‘So, what did you find?’

‘Heartless and Nobodies, as usual,’ Kairi said.

‘They seem to appear only after we arrive,’ Sora added. ‘Maybe they know that we were there, and they appeared when they sniffed us.’

‘Sounds fishy,’ said Cid. ‘Maybe they’re only targeting us?’

‘Anyhow, you should go look for Leon now,’ said Aerith. ‘I think he has some things to tell you too.’

‘Right, we’ll be off,’ Sora nodded.

The trio went beyond the Restoration Site which was still infested with Heartless and Nobodies. Soon, they could see the dark figure of Leon.

‘Hey Le…’ Sora stopped. As he went closer, he could see Leon reading a letter silently. An ethereal image of a butterfly surfaced from the letter. On his face, a rare smiled has appeared. This smile was different from before. It was filled with joy, with light.

‘Leon, what’s up?’ said Sora.

‘S-sora,’ Leon raised his head. As he saw Sora, Riku and Kairi, he started moving frantically. Quickly, he kept the letter. In a flash of light, he was back to serious and cool Leon again.

‘So, what’s up?’ he said after getting back his composure.

‘That’s what I asked you,’ Sora said, holding back his laughter. He looked back at Riku and Kairi to see their response. Riku was smirking and Kairi placed a finger upon her lips, asking Sora to keep the matter quiet.

‘Yes,’ Leon replied calmly. ‘I just came out for some fresh air… What did you find out?’

‘Oh, we went to Olympus Coliseum and Halloween Town,’ Sora said as he resisted the urge to question him about the letter. ‘It seems that the Heartless and Nobodies appear only when we were there.’

‘That is odd…’ Leon said as he closed his eyes, his arms crossed. ‘Donald and Goofy reported that Wonderland was the same too. It looks like some worlds are under constant attack, while others only received attack when we were there.’

‘Maybe they were only aiming for us,’ Riku answered. ‘Those with a good knowledge about the worlds.’

‘That could be it. We’re all connected or closely connected to the Keyblade,’ Leon pointed at the three of them. ‘Either that, or Maleficent really just wants to get back at us.’

‘So, we still don’t have much clues huh,’ Sora sighed.

‘It takes time,’ Leon consoled Sora. ‘At least we know that they are attacking us.’

‘But wouldn’t that mean we’re putting other people’s life in danger?’ said Sora worriedly.

‘Sora, as long as we’re there, we’ll be able to protect them, right?’ said Kairi.

Sora smiled. Kairi always had the ability to make things brighter.

‘Go back to Merlin’s House,’ said Leon. ‘They have the list of worlds to visit there.’

‘You’re not coming with us?’ Sora asked.

‘No…’ Leon replied softly. ‘I’ll stay here for a little while longer.’

With that, Sora, Riku and Kairi headed back to Merlin’s House. When they arrived, they told Aerith, Yuffie and Cid about what they saw at the Postern.

‘Leon? A letter?’ Yuffie said curiously.

‘Hmm, I knew it,’ Cid nodded.

‘You guys know about this already?’ asked Sora.

‘Leon isn’t very good at hiding this sort of things,’ Aerith tittered softly. ‘We caught him reading letters a few times too.’

‘But have an idea what it’s about,’ Yuffie smiled slyly. ‘Was he by any chance smiling suspiciously?’

‘Suspiciously?’ Sora raised an eyebrow. ‘If that’s what you called it… yeah.’

Aerith, Yuffie and Cid exchange stares. They smiled.

‘We think it’s an old friend of Leon,’ said Aerith. ‘Also… an old friend of ours.’

‘An old friend?’

Aerith nodded. ‘We weren’t the only ones from Radiant Garden. This other friend of ours, she was from Radiant Garden too.’

‘We were lucky to find each other at Traverse Town, and find our way home,’ Yuffie continued. ‘But she was alone, and we’ve never seen her ever since the Heartless took Radiant Garden.’

‘How sure are you it’s her?’ asked Riku.

‘The butterfly,’ Cid muttered.

‘Butterfly?’

‘The butterfly,’ Cid said, slightly annoyed. ‘Didn’t you see it? A butterfly coming out of the letter.’

‘Now you said it… yeah,’ Sora nodded.

‘That’s her symbol,’ Yuffie answered. ‘The butterfly.’
---

Current Word Count: 5,235

Labels: NaNoMadness

‘We’ve been doing some looking around at some of the worlds,’ Goofy explained. ‘The King wants to know if the situation here in Radiant Garden is the same as the other worlds.’

‘We just came back from Pride Lands. It looks much greener than before,’ said Donald. ‘And guess what? Simba and Nala have a new cub!’

‘Wow! That’s great!’ Sora cheered gladly. ‘They must be really happy.’

‘Everyone is helping out to check on the other worlds,’ Goofy continued. ‘We are trying to get some clues from the locals too. It’s important that we find out what’s happening and stop the bad guys from meddling.’

‘Wow…’ Sora said softly.

‘What was that for?’ Donald asked.

‘Goofy finally said “meddling” correctly!’ Sora smiled. ‘He used to say “muddling”, remember?’

‘Ahyuck!’ Goofy grinned sheepishly. ‘I do learn ya know.’

‘So, what new leads have you got?’ asked Leon.

‘We know that the Keyholes in each world are sealed. So there should be no danger to the heart of the world,’ said Donald. ‘The Heartless and Nobodies don’t seem to be looking for the Keyhole either. So their objectives have nothing to do with consuming the heart of the world.’

‘But after questioning the locals, we found out that the Nobodies and most of the Heartless only attack those who had connections with us,’ Goofy nodded. ‘Simba said he had to beat of the bad guys many times. But the other animals are safe and sound.’

‘It’s definitely Maleficent!’ Yuffie said. ‘She knows us and definitely wants to get back at us!’

‘That could be it,’ Leon agreed. ‘But we’ll need to report to the King first.’

‘So what do we need, exactly?’ asked Kairi.

‘We need to visit the other worlds and check in the situation,’ Goofy answered after some thought. ‘We are looking out for Heartless and Nobody activity. The locals give good information, so be sure to talk to them.’

‘Why don’t we go straight to The World That Never Was and look for Maleficent there?’ asked Riku.

‘You can’t,’ Cid snapped back. ‘Haven’t you heard that the paths connecting the worlds are messed up?’

‘What?’ said Sora in dismay. ‘How did that happen?’

‘We have no idea yet,’ said Leon. ‘Some of the paths are fine. But others lead to different places and some are disconnected. It’ll slow down the process a little bit, but you’ll have to unlock the paths again.’

‘Jeez…’ Sora sighed at the thought of having to amend paths he had already opened before. It was déjà vu again. ‘Hey, then what happened to our gummi ship?’

‘Oh, right,’ Donald smiled, looking a little happier to be delivering good news. ‘We managed to retrieve the gummi ship with the help of a special gummi block that Cid made.’

‘Did he make the gummi block we used to come here too?’ asked Sora.

‘Of course I did,’ said Cid proudly with a casual wave.

‘Thanks, Cid,’ Sora said.

‘No problem,’ Cid replied. ‘Are you still having it with you?’

‘Yeah,’ Sora rummaged through his pockets and took out the gummi block. It was orange, and still dull like before. ‘But it’s not glowing anymore.’

‘What do you expect?’ Cid shook his head as he shrugged. ‘It only has enough energy for one trip. After that you’ve got to leave it alone and let it recharge. Keep it with you, it’ll come in handy. Free trip back to Radiant Garden as long as you’ve got a vessel.’

Sora pocketed the gummi block again.

‘So, our task is to unlock paths and check out the worlds, right?’ Riku returned to the point.

Donald and Goofy nodded. ‘The King wrote out a list of the worlds we need to visit,’ Donald continued. ‘We’re going in two separate teams so we get this done with quickly.’

‘Two teams?’ Sora asked.

‘Our unknown enemies have been too discreet with the activities,’ said Aerith. ‘It’s too suspicious, and we cannot wait any longer.’

‘But… which are the two teams?’ Sora asked once again.

Donald and Goofy stared at each other before turning back to Sora and answering his question. ‘We have decided that Donald and I would be one team. You, Riku and Kairi can be the other team,’ said Goofy. ‘How does that sound?’

‘That sounds great, but…’ Sora started uncertainly. ‘We’ve been together all the time. It’d be strange without you guys.’

‘But you’ll have us, Sora,’ Kairi reassured Sora as she placed her hands on his shoulder. Sora’s eyes darted towards Kairi’s warm hands, then to Kairi, then to Riku. He smiled.

‘I guess change is good,’ said Sora happily. ‘So, when will be leaving?’
---

Current Word Count: 3,714

Labels: NaNoMadness

It has been a day since they started work on their new raft. On the second day, they were already set to leave Destiny Island.

‘Food, check. Potions, check,’ Kairi said softly as she ticked off her check list. ‘Raft… Hey, we don’t have a name for the raft yet.’

Sora, who was loading their items onto the raft, made an involuntary movement by dropping the box of equipments and yelling. ‘Highwind!’

Riku retrieved the box from the floor, raising his eyebrows at his shorter friend in inquiry. ‘What about Excalibur?’

‘Well, when I think back, I think Excalibur would be quite a weird name…’ said Sora, his right elbow against his left hand as he tapped his finger on his chin. ‘So I say that we name it Highwind!’

Riku laughed. ‘I think we should name it Excalibur instead.’

‘What?’

‘You guys at it again?’ Kairi giggled. ‘Come on, we don’t have time for a race. You know what, we’ll just stick with my choice. We’ll name it… Falcon!’

‘Huh?’

‘Too late for buts, I win!’ Kairi smiled. ‘Alright, with that settled, shall we get on now?’

‘Aren’t you going to say good bye to Selphie?’ asked Riku.

‘I have,’ Kairi nodded. ‘She was kind of upset to hear that we’re leaving again. But she’s alright with it. She said she didn’t want to see us off because she might cry.’

‘Okay then,’ Sora nodded as he hopped on the raft. He took out the orange gummi block from his pocket and tied it onto the mast. ‘Everyone, aboard the Falcon! Since Kairi got to name the raft, I’ll be captain!’

‘And what do I do?’

Sora turned to Riku who had his arms crossed. Sora scratched the back of his spiky head as he started thinking. ‘Uh… You’ll get the honour to draw our flag!’

‘I’m honoured,’ said Riku jokingly. ‘But no thanks. I’ll push the raft off the beach. Kairi, if you please…’

Kairi nodded. She boarded the raft and sat next to Sora. As Riku pushed the raft off the sandy beach, they turned around to take one last look at Destiny Islands. When the raft was finally floating in the water, Riku hopped onto the raft.

‘How long would it be until we come home this time?’ Sora wondered aloud.

‘It won’t be long. As long as you keep Destiny Islands here,’ said Riku, his hands on his chest.

‘See you, Destiny Islands!’ Kairi yelled back to the island, waving at it like it was her best friend. Suddenly, the raft was engulfed by a bright, white light as the water below them disappeared. As they came to their senses, they found their raft on land. They were at the Dark Depths, overlooking the Villain’s Vale, once the fortress of Maleficent. The cliffs at the area had a prominent blue and purple hue.

‘We’re here already… It’s Radiant Garden,’ said Sora as his eyes wandered around.

‘Wow,’ Kairi smiled gleefully. ‘This is it. I’m finally here. This was where I came from!’

Riku stood up from the raft. His alert eyes started scanning his surroundings. ‘Don’t get excited too soon,’ he said, whipping out his Keyblade, Way to the Dawn above his head swiftly. ‘We’ve got company.’

Surely enough, they were surrounded by a group of Dusk Nobodies. Sora summoned his Keyblade and stood in his battle stance.

‘Stay back, Kairi!’

‘No,’ Kairi retorted, her Keyblade already in hand. ‘I will fight too!’

Sora was hesitant. But with a reassuring nod from Riku, he decided to concentrate on the enemies before them.

Very quickly, the three friends dispatched the Dusks.

‘Not too bad, huh?’ said Kairi as she waved her Keyblade. Sora simply smiled back, relieved.

‘But I don’t get it…’ said Riku as he withdrew his Keyblade. ‘We’ve defeated Xemnas and the whole of Organization XIII. And Nobodies don’t attack without orders or a plan. Who could be behind this?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Sora. ‘But we’ll definitely know more once we find Leon.’

Kairi nodded in agreement. She then started looking around before stopping with a gasp. ‘Oh no! The Nobodies destroyed the raft!’

Sora turned towards their raft. Their hard work had been destroyed in just minutes. The logs were taken apart and the mast had been broken into pieces. He walked towards the Falcon’s remains. He found the gummi block, tightly tied onto a piece of wood. He took it out and realized that the orange glow it had earlier had faded away. Sora pocketed the gummi block.

‘We’ll go to Merlin’s House first to find Leon and the others. They are probably there,’ said Sora. ‘As for the Falcon… It has done its job, but we’ll have to leave it here.’

With one last look back, Sora, Riku and Kairi left the Dark Depths and headed to the town of Radiant Garden. It was not a walk in the park as the three Keybearers were constantly attacked by Heartless and Nobodies.

‘Take that!’ Sora yelled as he hit the last Soldier Heartless, defeating it and releasing the captive heart. Sora then turned to Riku. ‘Hey… Don’t you think the number of Heartless and Nobodies here have increased?’

Riku nodded in return as he lowered his Keyblade. ‘It must’ve been as the King said,’ he stated. ‘There must be someone who is controlling the Heartless and Nobodies. Whoever they are, it isn’t for good intentions.’

‘Stay away!’

Sora heard a familiar voice from afar. It took him awhile before he recognized who it was. ‘It’s Leon!’ he said. ‘He needs our help! Let’s go.’

The party ran towards the source of the voice. Sounds blades clashing could be heard.

‘There’s too many of them!’ came a female’s voice.

‘I’ll go get Cloud!’ said another.

Soon, Sora, Riku and Kairi arrived at the scene in front of Merlin’s House. A dark haired man, a short haired ninja and a long, black haired girl were fighting off a large group of Heartless and Nobodies.

‘Leon!’ Sora called out as he ran forward, joining in the battle.

‘Sora, you came just in time,’ Leon answered as he sent another blow to a Creeper Nobody with his Gunblade. ‘We need your help.’

‘You didn’t have to ask,’ said Riku, who had defeated a Shadow Heartless. Kairi was fighting, too. Sora flashed Leon a thumbs-up and received a smile as a reply.

The party continued to fight for a few minutes, but more and more enemies keep appearing.

‘Kairi, behind you!’ Sora shouted during an interval of switching targets. Two unsuspecting Dusk Nobody had crept up to Kairi and was about to attack her. As she turned around, the two enemies were defeated with a slash of a man’s blade. Standing by his side was a brown haired girl with a gentle smile.

‘Cloud, Aerith!’ Sora smiled. With their help, the group of Heartless and Nobodies were defeated.

‘It’s great to see you again Sora!’ said the ninja named Yuffie immediately after the enemies were dispatched.

‘Same here,’ said Sora with a smile.

Yuffie bent sideways as she took a peek at Riku and Kairi. ‘Mind introducing?’ she asked.

‘Oh, yeah,’ Sora nodded as he turned around. ‘These are the friends I’ve always been talking about. This is Riku, and this is Kairi.’

Sora waved his hand at Riku, then to Kairi. ‘Hello there,’ said Riku. Kairi smiled and answered happily.

‘I’m Kairi. Nice to meet you!’

‘Oh! Hey there!’ Yuffie piped. ‘It’s great to finally meet you guys! I’m Yuffie. And that’s Leon, Aerith, Cloud and Tifa.’

All four of them responded upon introduced

‘Before we start talking, let’s get in first, shall we?’ said Aerith as she ushered them into Merlin’s House.

They entered Merlin’s House in an orderly manner. Cloud closed the door as he was the last one to enter.

‘Hey Sora,’ said a middle aged man as he spun around on his chair.

‘Hi Cid, good to see you,’ Sora waved his hand casually.

‘I think we should start telling him what he needs to know,’ Cloud interrupted suddenly.

‘Right,’ Leon nodded. ‘I’m sure you’ve already received the letter from the King.’

‘Yeah,’ said Sora. ‘And we’re told that you’d tell us what’s going on.’

‘So, what sort of trouble is brewing this time?’ asked Riku curiously.

‘That’s what we’re trying to find out,’ said Leon as he sighed. ‘But we have a few leads. If the number and types of Heartless is increasing, it can only mean that a Heartless user is acting. And the King reckons its Maleficent.’

‘Maleficent?’ Sora exclaimed in surprise. ‘But isn’t she – oh… She’s still alive huh? We last saw her at The World That Never Was.’

Leon nodded. ‘We think she might have taken over the castle there after Organization XII left it. The vale beyond the Dark Depths has been empty since then.’

‘And since it took her three months to act, she’s definitely got something planned out,’ Yuffie explained.

‘Did you check the Heartless Manufactory?’ Sora asked. ‘Maybe something went wrong in the Space Paranoids.’

Aerith shook her head and frowned. ‘We’ve checked it. The manufactory has been silent since that time. There’s no problem with Tron, too.’

‘And with the Nobodies popping up everywhere, there must be a bigger Nobody commanding them,’ said Yuffie. ‘We don’t think Maleficent is able to control Nobodies.

‘But if they’re attacking together, does that mean that this Maleficent is working with the person controlling the Nobodies?’ Kairi suggested.

‘Hmm… That’s a possibility,’ Leon nodded in agreement. ‘Yeah, I think that is it. But we’ll never know until we investigate the situation.’

‘So that’s what the King is doing?’ Riku asked.

‘Ahyuck! That’s right!’

Sora turned his head so fast he swore his neck almost snapped off. Right before his eyes were his two trusted partners.

‘Donald! Goofy!’

Sora leapt off the ground and extended his arms as wide as possible as he hugged them both. The two responded by returning the hug excitedly.

‘Aww! We missed you!’ said Donald with his squeaky voice.

‘I missed you guys too!’ Sora grinned from ear to ear.

‘We came as soon as we could when we heard you were coming,’ said Goofy steadily, despite having his neck squeezed by Sora.

‘Oh? Where have you guys been?’ Sora asked.

Current Word Count: 2,938

Labels: NaNoMadness

‘Kairi…’

The young boy ran his hands across the cave wall gently. The kids called the cave the Secret Place. He smiled at the drawing on the cave wall. It was a drawing he carved with his friend when he was little. The boy had drawn his friend, Kairi, and Kairi drawn him. Over the past two years, the drawing has been altered. The drawing now shows the boy and Kairi feeding each other a Paopu Fruit. There was a legend about this yellow star-shaped fruit that says if two people share a Paopu Fruit, their destinies are intertwined and both will remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what.

The boy left the Secret Place and headed towards the beach. He missed the fine, white sand and cool breeze. It made him wonder what was it that made them want to leave Destiny Islands two years ago. As he approached the coconut tree, he caught a glimpse of his silvered haired friend sitting on the low, bendy tree. It seems like he was not the only one who wanted to hang out at their favourite spot. The boy took a deep breathe and dashed across the bridge towards the little island. He placed both his hands on the tree, pushed himself off the ground and leapt over the tree. He leaned against the tree, placing both his hand behind his brown, spiky hair. They gazed into the beautiful blue sky, dyed in orange by the sunset as the clouds crawled slowly across the sky.

‘Nothing’s changed, huh?’ said the taller silver haired boy, breaking the silence.

‘Nope. Nothing will,’ the younger of the two replied.

‘What a small world.’

‘But part of one that’s much bigger.’

‘Yeah.’

The boys then fell into silence again. ‘Hey Riku… what do you think it was - the door to the light?’ asked the brown haired boy suddenly as he turned to his friend. The two friends were lost in the realm of darkness after defeating Organization XIII’s Xemnas. But were saved and returned to Destiny Islands when the door to light appeared.

Riku laughed softly as he jumped off the tree. He turned to the boy, and pointed to his chest with his finger.

‘This,’ Riku said simply.

The boy blinked as he moved his hand towards his heart. ‘This?’

‘Yeah,’ Riku nodded. ‘It’s always closer than you think.’

After listening to his friend, the brown haired boy gave it a little thought before smiling.

‘Sora! Riku!’

The boy turned towards the voice as he heard his name. He saw Kairi waving towards them, wearing her usual pink outfit. She stopped running, panting as she stood before them.

‘Hey, what’s up?’ Sora asked.

Kairi heaved a sigh. She raised her head and stretched out her hand which was holding a bottle.

‘Look.’

Sora looked closely at the bottle. There was a message in it, rolled and fitted nicely in the bottle. And on the message was an odd looking seal. His heart skipped a beat. He could recognize that seal anywhere.

‘From the King?’ Sora exclaimed excitedly. He snatched the bottle and uncorked it immediately. He shook the message out of the bottle and unrolled the piece of parchment. Both Riku and Kairi drew closer as they read the contents silently together.

Sora,

I hope you’re enjoying yourself back at Destiny Islands. Sorry to bother you, but there’s big trouble brewin’. Not sure why, but the Nobodies started actin’ again. And that means somebody other than Organization XIII is behind this. I hate to ask for your help after all that mess you went through to get back home, but there’s no one else who does it better than you. I’ve gotta go to the other worlds to check into it. I need you and Riku to go to Radiant Garden to meet up with Leon and the others. Donald and Goofy will be there too. They’ll point you in the right direction.

P.S.

There’s a gummi block in the bottle. Attach it to your vessel and you’ll be headin’ to Radiant Garden.

Sora raised his head with disbelieve. They have only gotten back to Destiny Islands for barely three months and new trouble had arisen. Of course, he was ready to fight for everyone. He looked into the bottle which was still in his left hand. And just as the King wrote, he found a small, bright orange gummi block sitting in bottle. He turned to his friends as he waited for their response.

‘So… Does that mean we get to go on that journey we never went?’ said Kairi enthusiastically.

‘You mean with the raft?’ Riku enquired. Kairi replied with a nod and he laughed in returned. His laughter slowly faded as he lowered his head, his silver fringe covering his eyes. Sora knew why - Riku was thinking about the day he opened the door, releasing the darkness which destroyed Destiny Islands.

‘Hey, why don’t we build a new raft?’ Sora piped. ‘Just like the old days.’

‘As long as the two of you don’t get lazy this time,’ Riku smiled.

Kairi nodded. ‘This time, we’ll definitely go together!’

‘Together!’ Sora chorused.

‘Together?’ Riku turned to Kairi, his face uncertain. ‘Kairi, does that mean you’ll be following us too?’

‘Of course,’ Kairi beamed confidently as she swept her red locks off her shoulder. ‘What did you think I meant? Besides, I want to see my hometown.’

‘But Kairi, it’s going to be dangerous,’ said Sora. ‘We can’t afford to put your lives in danger.’

‘Oh, so why does that make it okay for both of you to put your lives in danger?’ Kairi objected.

Sora was lost for words. ‘Uh… Because… Because we have the Key-’

‘Maybe you’re forgetting that I have a Keyblade too,’ Kairi interrupted with a victorious smile. She swept her right arm backwards, and a key shaped weapon appeared. It was yellow with a slight tinge of red and blue. The Keyblade was adorned with flower decorations too. And hanging at the end was its Keychain, shaped like a Paopu Fruit.

‘Kairi, you’re still having that?’ said a surprised Riku. He had given Kairi the power to wield the Keyblade for a short while during their stay at The World That Never Was. He did not expect that Kairi was able to retain the Keyblade’s power for so long after the event.

‘Maybe I’m a Keybearer that was just discovered,’ Kairi replied as she admired her Keyblade. With another swing, her Keyblade disappeared. ‘So the decision is final. We’re finishing the raft and we’re going to Radiant Garden together!’

Kairi turned away and ran off towards the main island.

‘But Kairi-!’

Kairi paused and turned towards the boys. ‘Come on, I’ll race you!’

‘Huh?’

‘What, are you kidding again?’ Riku said as he shook his head, his lips widening.

‘Hey, it’s time to take me serious!’ Kairi glared with her arms akimbo. ‘Haven’t I proven my abilities already? Ready? Go!’

Kairi took a head start and ran off the beach. Behind her, Sora and Riku were catching up.

Current Word Count: 1,215

Labels: NaNoMadness