~Fear of the Beginning~
There was no denying that Destiny Islands was a relaxing world to live in.
The soft sands, warm weather that was just perfect to bask in, it had this feeling of relaxation that seemed to hang in the air and make people easy going and laid back.
Sora loved it.
He loved his home and was currently lounging on his favorite tree overlooking the ocean, taking in everything as he sat there in a bit of a daze, completely at ease.
On the outside.
Inside his gut was churning. A gut the war had taught him to trust since it has never let him down before. Right now it was telling him that after he left this time, it would be a long time before he saw these islands again. This was why he was here on this tree, sitting and staring at the ocean and thinking about happy times when he didn’t have anything to worry about and could just do what he wanted. Like war heroes should.
Sora sighed, current events pushing into his mind and forcing away his relaxed façade. People were scared, their loved ones disappearing. The keybladers, led by his best friend, were stretched out thin and Hikari, blast them, was capitalizing on it. Blaming the key bearers for everything that was going wrong in the worlds from the disappearances, to the heartless issue and even for rising gummi block prices. To make matters worse the restless public was actually starting to listen to the tripe that was being spouted and it was making them even more agitated.
So Sora had no choice but to go to this gathering that Hikari had planned and invited him to. His friends had all made it clear they’d be there in case this was some sort of trap. He was actually very grateful for this since he really would rather not face down a large crowd of angry people all by himself.
Sora hopped off his tree and set of for the gummi hanger to make some last minute adjustments on his new ship, one that was big enough to accommodate them all, given to him by King Mickey himself. He idly wondered how the mouse king was doing lately and resolved to ask him how to deal with such stress. Another sigh left his lips as Sora walked and looked…troubled.
“Sora!”
Sora stopped walking, recognizing the voice to be that of his friend Namine and nodding to the blonde newcomer that jogged up to him, a little out of breath. He watched her with a bit of a pang in his heart, reminded of his red haired best friend Kairi. It had been a while since the two had seen each other, since Kairi was off on some sort of mission on one of the outer worlds that were so far away it took more than one warp from a gummi ship to get anywhere near it. She was due back soon but not in time to make the meeting.
“Are you leaving already?” she asked. Sora nodded “Gotta make some last minute adjustments to the ship before Crowley and the rest get there” he replied “So I’m leaving for the hanger a bit early. Do you wanna walk with me?”
She nodded, smiling and the two fell into step. Kairi had chosen to be a more active keyblader and proper princess to her people, so she didn’t spend large amounts of time at the islands. Namine on the other hand adored them and so the two had formed a rather close friendship. Namine was thrilled of course since Sora had promised her back in Castle Oblivion that they would be friends for real one day, even though it took longer than Sora had thought it would when the promise was made. It was this friendship that had caused her heart to grow a little faster than usual for nobodies.
“So why do you look so troubled?” Namine asked him after a few minutes of silence
“Just thinking about the worlds” Sora said “I think this is going to blow up. Another quest you know?”
She nodded “I had the same feeling. Do you not want to go on another quest?”
Sora shrugged, his recent worries tumbling out his of his mouth before he could stop them
“It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t want a bunch of people to die. I don’t want another war being sparked and the last time I went on a big quest that happened. The worlds were finally at peace and now I think that something’s going to happen to ruin that and what if something happens to one of us and..”
Namine interrupted his babble by putting her hand on his cheek. He stopped talking and started at her, frowning and distressed at the idea. Namine shook her head and put her other hand on his face, using her thumbs to pull his lips into a smile
“Don’t make that face” she said, smiling the same sort of happy, idealistic smile that he had smiled at her so long ago in a white castle when she had been so afraid, so bogged down with negativity “It’s okay. If you do have another quest, then between you, Riku and the masters, and everyone else, it will turn out fine. They’ve had ten years to grow you know”
“But..”
“Smile” Namine said “and trust me. You won’t be alone at the start this time”
He smiled, a real one, and the two continued to walk towards the gummi hanger. Sora’s heart feeling a little lighter than it did before.
---
~Aura of Frustrations~
The irritation was starting to set in.
They were sitting at the docks, a little wooden bridge at the mouth of the water that connected the ‘play’ island and the residential island. Her master was standing in his little wooden boat, bobbing up and down and she was sitting cross legged on the dock in front, trying to meditate as the two went through a lesson about the skill she was attempting to learn. But her mind was all over the place and for the life of her she couldn’t clear it. Which was why her eyes snapped open for what was probably the fifth time.
“Something on your mind?” Rodric Crowley asked knowingly
“You mean besides the fact that I can’t get this?” Amanda Alexandra asked back, annoyed by the failure “I guess i’m just too excited about seeing my cousin and too curious about the rally to really focus”
Crowley snorted at her mention of the rally “Publicity stunt” he rolled his eyes “All they want to do is insult Sora and undermine him in front of a lot of people. Its completely tasteless”
“But you insult Sora and undermine him everytime you two get together” Amanda pointed out “In fact when we first got here...”
“Sora knows what to expect from me!” Crowley cut across her “I do it for my own amusement, not some hidden agenda. Now close your eyes and try again”
Amanda huffed but did what she was told.
“If you want to read the soul you’ll need a sound mind and a sound body” Crowley lectured “That state must be reached through meditation. Once you get this down, aura reading will become second nature to you”
Amanda doubted that. Her master was trying to teach her to read people’s 'auras’ which was basically their souls, something he picked up from Aqua. But she was having trouble with it and doubted that she could ever master the skill. Not everyone could do it after all.
“Doubt will get you nowhere” Crowley said “Besides. Your MY student. You doubt other people, not yourself”
Amanda nodded but didn’t respond, still trying to focus
“I”m going to go on ahead to the hanger” Crowley said “Your cousin should be here soon and then the two of you can go there as well. Its close to departure time”
“Alright” Amanda said and heard the sounds of Crowley leaving, his little boat gliding across the water.
She was alone now, taking deep breaths and trying to clear her mind and be relaxed, yet alert at the same time in case Anise showed up. Meditation.. maybe her cousin could help her with this. How was she even supposed to clear her mind with all of this stuff going on? Its not like aura reading was a skill all keybladers needed to know or anything. Sora didn’t. Crowley made sure that she knew that Sora couldn’t. The two were always at odds with each other but Amanda knew that they were friends and that it was good to have someone to exchange snide remarks to every now and again..
Focus! She had to focus!!
Amanda took another calming breath and began, once again, to clear her thoughts and find her center.
---
~Preparations~
Rodric Crowley stepped into the gummi hanger and saw Sora sitting in the captain’s chair of the ship that they’d be using to transport themselves. It was bigger on the inside than the outside so Crowley knew that they could all fit in there quite comfortably. But, he had to make a comment about the size anyway. Sora actually looked comfortable, relaxed even. Staring at the console and pressing buttons. The man really looked like he knew what he was doing.
“So you expect us all to fit in that matchbox?” Crowley asked casually.
Sora looked up in confusion for a second before spotting him and rolling his eyes “Not now Rodric. I’m calibrating the warp drive and setting the course for the jump so we come out at Midgar and not in the space boonies or something”
“You know i’ve been there” Crowley commented “Lots of banjos”
Sora stopped his button pressing “Your not serious”
“Course not” Crowley scoffed “I’m here to tell you what’s going on in Midgar and maybe say one or two snarky comments, not make small talk”
“Shouldn’t you be teaching or something?” Sora asked, going back to his work
“Mandie’s meditating” Crowley said brightly “She’s gonna be as good at aura reading as I am one day. Not that you would know anything about..”
“The report. Crowley”
Crowley smirked “Fine. Word on the street is something big is going to go down at the rally”
“Well we guessed that much” Sora said, checking some hand written notes before going back to his typing
“But now we know for sure” Crowley said “People have already started to arrive and gather in the meeting place. Luckily its outdoors so there’s plenty of room for everyone. Its supposed to begin in two hours. Midgar time”
“With this warp drive we’ll be there in an hour and a half” Sora replied “Midgar time”
Crowley raised his eyebrows, doing some quick distance related calculations in his head “So you plan on making an entrance?”
“Fashionably late” replied Sora “I’m not going to blend into the crowd while these people try and start a riot with their rabble rousing”
“So your going to...what is it that you do? oh yes, Your going to try and negotiate with them?" Crowley asked
“Whatever I need to do” Sora replied “I’ll see what Riku and Aqua think about all of this too”
Crowley shrugged and sat down in a nearby chair “The group should be arriving any minute now”
Sora nodded, having finished up his work. Crowley leaned forward in his chair, thinking about something. What is was Sora had no idea because he couldn’t really tell what Crowley was thinking with that expression on his face. But if it was important Sora was sure the man would bring it up. Right now, he had to focus on the task at hand and what he would say at the rally. He had to figure out a way to calm everyone down and get that group to stop what they were doing, big or small, as soon as he could with the least amount of bloodshed possible. When emotions ran high, anything could happen.
It was lucky though, that Sora had gotten really good at talking his way out of hostile situations.
There was no denying that Destiny Islands was a relaxing world to live in.
The soft sands, warm weather that was just perfect to bask in, it had this feeling of relaxation that seemed to hang in the air and make people easy going and laid back.
Sora loved it.
He loved his home and was currently lounging on his favorite tree overlooking the ocean, taking in everything as he sat there in a bit of a daze, completely at ease.
On the outside.
Inside his gut was churning. A gut the war had taught him to trust since it has never let him down before. Right now it was telling him that after he left this time, it would be a long time before he saw these islands again. This was why he was here on this tree, sitting and staring at the ocean and thinking about happy times when he didn’t have anything to worry about and could just do what he wanted. Like war heroes should.
Sora sighed, current events pushing into his mind and forcing away his relaxed façade. People were scared, their loved ones disappearing. The keybladers, led by his best friend, were stretched out thin and Hikari, blast them, was capitalizing on it. Blaming the key bearers for everything that was going wrong in the worlds from the disappearances, to the heartless issue and even for rising gummi block prices. To make matters worse the restless public was actually starting to listen to the tripe that was being spouted and it was making them even more agitated.
So Sora had no choice but to go to this gathering that Hikari had planned and invited him to. His friends had all made it clear they’d be there in case this was some sort of trap. He was actually very grateful for this since he really would rather not face down a large crowd of angry people all by himself.
Sora hopped off his tree and set of for the gummi hanger to make some last minute adjustments on his new ship, one that was big enough to accommodate them all, given to him by King Mickey himself. He idly wondered how the mouse king was doing lately and resolved to ask him how to deal with such stress. Another sigh left his lips as Sora walked and looked…troubled.
“Sora!”
Sora stopped walking, recognizing the voice to be that of his friend Namine and nodding to the blonde newcomer that jogged up to him, a little out of breath. He watched her with a bit of a pang in his heart, reminded of his red haired best friend Kairi. It had been a while since the two had seen each other, since Kairi was off on some sort of mission on one of the outer worlds that were so far away it took more than one warp from a gummi ship to get anywhere near it. She was due back soon but not in time to make the meeting.
“Are you leaving already?” she asked. Sora nodded “Gotta make some last minute adjustments to the ship before Crowley and the rest get there” he replied “So I’m leaving for the hanger a bit early. Do you wanna walk with me?”
She nodded, smiling and the two fell into step. Kairi had chosen to be a more active keyblader and proper princess to her people, so she didn’t spend large amounts of time at the islands. Namine on the other hand adored them and so the two had formed a rather close friendship. Namine was thrilled of course since Sora had promised her back in Castle Oblivion that they would be friends for real one day, even though it took longer than Sora had thought it would when the promise was made. It was this friendship that had caused her heart to grow a little faster than usual for nobodies.
“So why do you look so troubled?” Namine asked him after a few minutes of silence
“Just thinking about the worlds” Sora said “I think this is going to blow up. Another quest you know?”
She nodded “I had the same feeling. Do you not want to go on another quest?”
Sora shrugged, his recent worries tumbling out his of his mouth before he could stop them
“It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t want a bunch of people to die. I don’t want another war being sparked and the last time I went on a big quest that happened. The worlds were finally at peace and now I think that something’s going to happen to ruin that and what if something happens to one of us and..”
Namine interrupted his babble by putting her hand on his cheek. He stopped talking and started at her, frowning and distressed at the idea. Namine shook her head and put her other hand on his face, using her thumbs to pull his lips into a smile
“Don’t make that face” she said, smiling the same sort of happy, idealistic smile that he had smiled at her so long ago in a white castle when she had been so afraid, so bogged down with negativity “It’s okay. If you do have another quest, then between you, Riku and the masters, and everyone else, it will turn out fine. They’ve had ten years to grow you know”
“But..”
“Smile” Namine said “and trust me. You won’t be alone at the start this time”
He smiled, a real one, and the two continued to walk towards the gummi hanger. Sora’s heart feeling a little lighter than it did before.
---
~Aura of Frustrations~
The irritation was starting to set in.
They were sitting at the docks, a little wooden bridge at the mouth of the water that connected the ‘play’ island and the residential island. Her master was standing in his little wooden boat, bobbing up and down and she was sitting cross legged on the dock in front, trying to meditate as the two went through a lesson about the skill she was attempting to learn. But her mind was all over the place and for the life of her she couldn’t clear it. Which was why her eyes snapped open for what was probably the fifth time.
“Something on your mind?” Rodric Crowley asked knowingly
“You mean besides the fact that I can’t get this?” Amanda Alexandra asked back, annoyed by the failure “I guess i’m just too excited about seeing my cousin and too curious about the rally to really focus”
Crowley snorted at her mention of the rally “Publicity stunt” he rolled his eyes “All they want to do is insult Sora and undermine him in front of a lot of people. Its completely tasteless”
“But you insult Sora and undermine him everytime you two get together” Amanda pointed out “In fact when we first got here...”
“Sora knows what to expect from me!” Crowley cut across her “I do it for my own amusement, not some hidden agenda. Now close your eyes and try again”
Amanda huffed but did what she was told.
“If you want to read the soul you’ll need a sound mind and a sound body” Crowley lectured “That state must be reached through meditation. Once you get this down, aura reading will become second nature to you”
Amanda doubted that. Her master was trying to teach her to read people’s 'auras’ which was basically their souls, something he picked up from Aqua. But she was having trouble with it and doubted that she could ever master the skill. Not everyone could do it after all.
“Doubt will get you nowhere” Crowley said “Besides. Your MY student. You doubt other people, not yourself”
Amanda nodded but didn’t respond, still trying to focus
“I”m going to go on ahead to the hanger” Crowley said “Your cousin should be here soon and then the two of you can go there as well. Its close to departure time”
“Alright” Amanda said and heard the sounds of Crowley leaving, his little boat gliding across the water.
She was alone now, taking deep breaths and trying to clear her mind and be relaxed, yet alert at the same time in case Anise showed up. Meditation.. maybe her cousin could help her with this. How was she even supposed to clear her mind with all of this stuff going on? Its not like aura reading was a skill all keybladers needed to know or anything. Sora didn’t. Crowley made sure that she knew that Sora couldn’t. The two were always at odds with each other but Amanda knew that they were friends and that it was good to have someone to exchange snide remarks to every now and again..
Focus! She had to focus!!
Amanda took another calming breath and began, once again, to clear her thoughts and find her center.
---
~Preparations~
Rodric Crowley stepped into the gummi hanger and saw Sora sitting in the captain’s chair of the ship that they’d be using to transport themselves. It was bigger on the inside than the outside so Crowley knew that they could all fit in there quite comfortably. But, he had to make a comment about the size anyway. Sora actually looked comfortable, relaxed even. Staring at the console and pressing buttons. The man really looked like he knew what he was doing.
“So you expect us all to fit in that matchbox?” Crowley asked casually.
Sora looked up in confusion for a second before spotting him and rolling his eyes “Not now Rodric. I’m calibrating the warp drive and setting the course for the jump so we come out at Midgar and not in the space boonies or something”
“You know i’ve been there” Crowley commented “Lots of banjos”
Sora stopped his button pressing “Your not serious”
“Course not” Crowley scoffed “I’m here to tell you what’s going on in Midgar and maybe say one or two snarky comments, not make small talk”
“Shouldn’t you be teaching or something?” Sora asked, going back to his work
“Mandie’s meditating” Crowley said brightly “She’s gonna be as good at aura reading as I am one day. Not that you would know anything about..”
“The report. Crowley”
Crowley smirked “Fine. Word on the street is something big is going to go down at the rally”
“Well we guessed that much” Sora said, checking some hand written notes before going back to his typing
“But now we know for sure” Crowley said “People have already started to arrive and gather in the meeting place. Luckily its outdoors so there’s plenty of room for everyone. Its supposed to begin in two hours. Midgar time”
“With this warp drive we’ll be there in an hour and a half” Sora replied “Midgar time”
Crowley raised his eyebrows, doing some quick distance related calculations in his head “So you plan on making an entrance?”
“Fashionably late” replied Sora “I’m not going to blend into the crowd while these people try and start a riot with their rabble rousing”
“So your going to...what is it that you do? oh yes, Your going to try and negotiate with them?" Crowley asked
“Whatever I need to do” Sora replied “I’ll see what Riku and Aqua think about all of this too”
Crowley shrugged and sat down in a nearby chair “The group should be arriving any minute now”
Sora nodded, having finished up his work. Crowley leaned forward in his chair, thinking about something. What is was Sora had no idea because he couldn’t really tell what Crowley was thinking with that expression on his face. But if it was important Sora was sure the man would bring it up. Right now, he had to focus on the task at hand and what he would say at the rally. He had to figure out a way to calm everyone down and get that group to stop what they were doing, big or small, as soon as he could with the least amount of bloodshed possible. When emotions ran high, anything could happen.
It was lucky though, that Sora had gotten really good at talking his way out of hostile situations.