Only A Fool's Paradise

I set my hand on the jungle cat's head. It stared at me, patiently. Some part of me was surprised that it hadn't ripped my hand off yet. I feel kinda stupid to not have noticed it, but on looking at my hand I saw it encased in this... Shadow. I don't quite know how to put it. Like there was this dark, cold-flame looking aura around it. The dark aura melted from my hand and slowly spread to the leopard's head. Then around the rest of it's body. And the entire time it just stared at me.

'They call her Sabor.'

Cold chills went up and down my spine as the intrusive thought entered my head. I shook the feeling off and took my hand off of the leopard's head. It- she?- continued to stare at me. I turned my head- so did she.

"Sabor..." I heard a low rumble start in her throat as she sat back on her haunches and continued to stare at me. I smiled a little. I started to pet the top of her head and the low rumble turned into what sounded like a low purr. "Good Sabor."

She stood up and nudged her head up as she started to walk in a circle around me, making my hand slide down her neck and back- like a house cat. A really big house cat. I used my other hand to scratch her behind the ears a little as a devilish thought hit me.

"Now, Sabor. I want you to keep an eye out for the Keyblade kid. Sora. He's a person, so you can't miss him. And if you find him... Bring him to me. I don't care how. Okay?" I cooed. Sabor looked up at me and flicked her tail. I doubt she understood what I had said, but I would take my chance. If I could get my hands on him, then I could find a way to get back to Perseus, to help Riku. Sora... He had to know how to help.

He's the good guy, right?

I began to walk off so that I could check out just where I was. Sabor initially followed at my heels, but then once I got outside she decided that she wanted to check out the top of the tree house. Good kitty. But my attention was quickly pulled from the jungle cat as I could fully take in what was around me- the forest canopy, the life below me. Such bright, vivid colors. I could hear sounds of all sorts, so many different creatures living in one place. It took my breath away until I realized...

I was stuck here. And I don't mean just here on this world. I mean it as I couldn't see much of a way out of the tree house. I began walking around to find a way down- there had to be a way down, right? All that I could see was this suspicious branch that took a relatively steep dive down into the branches below. I could see planks of wood nailed into it, so it must be the way down. It honestly didn't look like I had much of a choice, anyway. So, slowly, carefully, I started my way down the branch, arms stretched out on either side of me for balance.

I heard a noise behind me from high up. I turned to look, only to see fire in the sky- something was falling, and fast. Before I could get my whits about me and move to a place where I was more stable, that something crashed into the tree house. I felt the entire tree shake. Including the branch that I was on. Just that movement, that subtle little movement, and I felt my balance go. Backwards I went. I didn't realize what had happened until I saw the branch I had been on start to get farther and farther away from me.

So. I had taken a pretty long fall before. Wonderland, I don't think I even broke a bone- unless that potion healed that up for me. But this? I took a look to where I was falling just in time to crash through the canopy. The first big branch I slammed in to wasn't all that delightful. My right shoulder hit and rendered my attempt to grab it useless. The force of the blow knocked me into an odd angle, so the next branch I hit- though considerably smaller- was on my hip. I could have grabbed that one had I not broken the limb by falling on it. If I ignore the tiny little scrapes I got from all the little twiggy ends, I could safely say I only hit three branches. Though that third one? This gigantic branch suddenly rushed up- my back crashed down into it and knocked the wind out of me, but my fall had been slowed down considerably. I slid off the branch and fell forward patch of... I don't know what. Vines that had knit themselves together? I couldn't describe it even if I wanted to. Some patch of foliage that had caught me before I fell all the way to the ground that was much softer than a tree branch, but solid enough to hold me up.

Whatever it was, it felt nice enough to pass out on...

---

"Xain..."

I shifted uncomfortably. Damn, my shoulder hurt like hell. And my back was screaming. Not... Not literally, but it hurt more than my shoulder did. My hip didn't feel so great either. Where was I, anyway?

"Xain, come on. Wake up." Oh, why wouldn't Riku just shut up already? I hurt all over. I clearly needed sleep. Wait... Riku? A flood of what had happened rushed at me. My eyes shot open and my body moved to sit up. I gasped and instantly regretted moving at all. I laid back down and took in my surroundings. Saw nothing but rain forest over head. I gently looked to my left and to my right. I saw... Dirt. And grass. And to my left I saw little... Lagoon? I guess that's a good word for it. Some sort of little spot of water. All that was nice, but there were two big things hanging in the air. How the hell did I get to the ground and why did I hear Riku? I had heard him, but I couldn't see him...

As I was searching, I felt something hop onto my stomach. I looked to see these two glowing beady eyes looking out at me from this dark fracture-looking face. It looked like a blue monkey. It had a large bottle filled with glowing green liquid and little leaves held up to it's chest. I stared at it for a second. It held the bottle out to me and I saw the heartless insignia on it's chest. Something about this should have freaked me out, but I was slowly finding that hard to happen. With my good arm, I grabbed the bottle- a potion, from the looks of it. It pulled off the stopper for me. If I could have shrugged my shoulders I would have as I clumsily knocked back the potion.

It's magic worked instantly. One moment it hurt to move, the next I felt like I could to acrobatics. The little monkey heartless hopped off my stomach and watched me as I sat up. I soon noticed that there were more little monkey heartless around- some were pink and looked like dainty little girls. They were all watching me curiously, waiting for me to move, wondering what I was doing, and... It almost seemed as if they didn't know what they were doing here themselves. I smiled as a thought struck me.

"Where is the Keyblade Master?" The heartless seemed to quiver at the very sound of 'keyblade'. But, slowly at first, they seemed to shuffle around the area, then they started fleeing in one direction through the dense forest undergrowth. It didn't take long for me to figure that, hey, maybe I should follow. I hopped to my feet and the hunt was on.

Hunt? I did not just say hunt. Search, maybe, but I wasn't hunting Sora. Or was I?

We- meaning me and the heartless, as funny as that sounds- came up to this campsite with all sorts of odds and ends about. If I could have a guess at it, it looked like a research camp. I could see the heartless running off towards a bamboo thicket. I don't know why, but I held up my hand and closed it in a fist- a military signal to halt. They did, without even seeing my hand. They didn't turn to look at me, though. Rather, they started roaming about the camp at their leisure. I decided to take this opportunity to check out the main tent.

"Hello?" I called as I pushed the curtain open to peek in. A woman turned to look at me with surprise. There was a gorilla in the tent as well that just sort of stared at me.

"Oh! Hello there. And who are you?" she questioned kindly. I sort of liked the tone of her voice. Not obnoxious like most females I had met- just curious. I took this as an invitation to enter the tent fully, and she just smiled in an unsure manor.

"My name is..." I hesitated. What if Sora knew I had been the one to take Alice? Or, at least, knew that Xain had taken Alice? A name popped into my head that I had heard as just a whisper when I received Agrona. "My name is Arianrhod and I'm looking for someone. A friend, I guess you could say."

This seemed to pique her interest. She looked as if she had heard a similar story before. "Sora, you mean? He just left through the thicket." I felt a heavy weight on my heart release in time for a gunshot to be heard outside. My blood chilled- for a moment I was worried for the heartless. Or... Or maybe someone had shot at Sabor when she was only looking for me. The chill slowly bubbled into fury as I rushed outside.

A man, wearing what I would call old fashion safari gear, approached slowly. The heartless formed a spear point behind him. I could feel the darkness radiating in him- of course. The heartless followed whoever promised the most strength. For the moment, they were no longer my allies. I let Agrona find its way into my hand as I took a defensive position in front of the tent. I could hear the flaps moving as... Well, I didn't get her name, but she was coming out behind me.

"No, stay inside. It isn't safe out here. Just let me handle this and everything will be fine, okay?" I ordered. I could hear her draw in a breath of protest, but the sight of the heartless must have convinced her to draw back inside. It was just me, the man, and the heartless.

"Xain, move aside. You cannot influence the path the worlds must take. Not yet," I heard the whisper come from my left. I spotted a girl their with long, long blonde hair and what looked to be a dark uniform dress and high boots. She had cold, expressionless gray eyes and emitted an emptiness that caught my attention. A large, very old and weathered book laid open in one hand and she beckoned me with another- while her emptiness was chilling, I felt no hostility from her, so I walked to her, even though I would have preferred to protect the kind woman in the tent. The man continued on his path as if I had never been there at all, and I heard a scream come from inside the tent.

Darkness enveloped the strange woman and I. When color reappeared before me, I could feel that we were still Deep Jungle. But I could also feel pulsations below my feet. I followed them to their source and spotted a large, knotted tree with a keyhole in the bark. When my eyes landed on the tree, I could feel my heart beating in sync with the pulsations. I heard the thump of the strange woman's book closing and when I looked at her, the book had disappeared altogether.

"This is the heart of this world, Xain. Would you believe me if I told you that you had the power to either destroy it or protect it?" she said rather monotonously. I stared at her suspiciously.

"No, I wouldn't. And how do you know my name?" I demanded, taking a defensive position in front of the tree. She laughed, though it sounded rather flat and forced.

"Why, Akui told me. It could feel your heart awakening from the deepest Corridors. It said that I must retrieve you at once to bring you to the Training Grounds- waiting any longer would be a waste, since now is when your heart will be the most vulnerable to Darkness," she explained. Then, she smiled what seemed to be an almost genuine expression. "I am quite impressed with your work here, by the way. Not much, but I can definitely feel your touch on this world. And controlling Sabor? While someone more experienced would have no problem with that, you did it without even trying. Such natural, raw talent you have. You can see why we don't want it spoil, at the very least."

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. So, she knew Akui. Or, she claimed to know Akui. She even knew to call him an it rather than a he like I did. And she knew about how I somehow controlled Sabor. The rest was kind of fuzzy and didn't make much sense to me, but I was willing to deal with it. This was someone, other than Maleficent, who was offering to train me. I was not about to let the opportunity to go.

"Sounds fine and dandy, but may I ask your name? And, I don't mean to seem rude, but you aren't like Akui, are you? Genderless, I mean," I stated. I didn't want another awkward situation where I found out that the person I was talking to had surprised. The woman chuckled to herself, once again sounding a little fake.

"My name is Ame and I am a friend of Akui's. No, I am not like it, nor am I genderless. See, it has a heart, I don't. I'm a Nobody," she explained. I stared at her blankly. No heart?

"Doesn't having no heart mean you're a Heartless?" I wondered. She sighed and shook her head at me.

"No, and empty shell with no heart is called a Nobody, like myself. A heart without a body or container to speak of is called a Heartless. Don't ask me why they're backwards- whoever named them must have been a little flipped," she informed. I made a confused expression, but let it be.

The two of us were silent for a little while. Ame sat down on the roots and seemed to be perfectly fine just sitting there. I, however, was beginning to get a bit stir crazy. I shifted and twitched uncomfortably. She didn't even seem to notice my distress.

"Soo..." I began. She looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

"You can only enter the Training Grounds at nightfall in whatever world you are currently in. You may go and do whatever you wish until then," she finally stated, as If this were something I should have known already. I grinned. This meant that I could go look for Sora. I could tell him where Riku was, tell him what was going on. I could also release Sabor- I didn't want her doing my work while I wasn't even around.

So I saluted Ame and made my way out. Another deep breath in, another deep breath out. This was going to be a long day.